Ascension Thursday
May 5, 2016
Rock Star
Everywhere
Last
September, Pope Francis visited the United States. We had a few parishioners go
down to NYC to see if they could catch a glimpse of him. They waited for hours
and hours in Central Park to see him. I think he looked about a half-inch tall
from their distance, but how exciting it was for them to see the Pope!
Wouldn’t
it be even better to actually meet
him? If I got to shake the Pope’s hand, I don’t think I’d ever wash my hand
again. And maybe to get his autograph? I once saw a baseball with Pope John
Paul II’s autograph on it. It was about four thousand dollars – and who knows
if it was authentic? I’m not sure St. JPII even knew what a baseball was for – it’s not a real popular sport in
Poland, unfortunately.
But
these things are rare and precious because there is only one Pope and he lives halfway across the world. So, it’s exciting
to see him, or to meet him, or to take a picture with him. What a gift that
would be!
Jesus
Christ knew that if He continued to live on earth, in the flesh, encountering
Him would also be a rare occurrence. Imagine if Jesus was still alive – we
would have to travel to Jerusalem to see Him, there would always be HUGE crowds
around Him, and could you imagine the amount of security and secret service
Jesus would need! (Although, being God and unable to die again after the
Resurrection, He might be able to dispense with the security). But who could
afford more than one or two trips to see Jesus in their lifetime? It would indeed
be a rare occurrence.
But
Jesus knew that He wanted to be closer to us. He didn’t want us to see Him once
or twice in our lifetime – no, He wanted to be more available than that. In
addition, He wanted to be more than just our friend – He wanted to literally
dwell in our souls.
Some of
you may have grown up using the Baltimore Catechism. If you did, you’ll
remember the question, “Where is God?” The answer: “God is everywhere.” God is
not constrained by space or time – but WE are, and so we need to encounter
Jesus through very physical, temporal means.
Jesus
wanted us to love Him, so He gave us the Sacraments – particularly the
Eucharist – as the way in which we can encounter Him. For this reason, He
ascended into Heaven. If He had stayed on earth, He would not have been able to
be present in every tabernacle in the world. If He had stayed on earth, we
would not be able to receive Him in the Eucharist, because Jesus would have
been limited to one specific location in the world.
Even if
I am best friends with the Pope, he still doesn’t dwell in my soul. If Jesus
were still alive and walking around on this earth, it would be impossible for him to dwell in my soul also. His
physical presence ascended into Heaven so He could leave us His sacramental
presence. It’s a true presence – Jesus Christ is truly here in the Eucharist,
100% - but it is different because it allows every single person to receive the
entire Christ as if Christ was here for you alone.
And so
for this reason, Jesus ascended into Heaven. He wanted to dwell, not just in
Jerusalem, but in every human heart and in every tabernacle throughout the
world. Thank goodness we don’t have to travel halfway around the world, wait in
long lines and huge crowds, and fight through security to meet Jesus! All we
have to do is ask Him to enter our hearts and receive Him in Holy Communion.
It’s the same Jesus Who walked this earth and ascended into Heaven, truly
present now in every Catholic church throughout the world.
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