Fr. Jim preaches on the highs of accomplishment, and the lows of the “midnight hour;” how good things don’t happen quickly, but the night does not last forever. We need to wait for Grace, wait for the Spirit to lead us, and take comfort that neither are far – for they are not up in the sky, but in each person all around us.
homily transcript
Some of you have heard of Dr. Cynthia Bourgeault, an Episcopal Priest, has written a number of books. She told a story about what happened when she was young. When she was twelve years old her next door neighbor got suddenly sick with kidney failure and her parents told this twelve year old, “Dan is dying.” She never knew anybody who was dying before. So she went to the park across the street. She said it was December, the snow was falling and she raged to God, “What’s going on here? How come he is going to die? How can this ever happen?“ Then all of a sudden she heard a voice. “Sh-h-h, Dan will die but all will be well.” And she said, “I relaxed. I realized that there was something in me that knew. I didn’t know what it knew, but I knew it was the voice of truth. And I surrendered to it. ”
Today is the Feast of the Ascension; the day Jesus leaves the earth for the final time. For the last 40 days since Easter we have been hearing how he has been appearing and disappearing, how he has gone through walls and going through doors. The purpose of all these stories is to teach us that the line between heaven and earth is paper-thin. The veil between this life and the next life is permeable.
Anne Lamott says, “Death is just a major change of address.” We are living in a different zip code, on the other side.
Jesus says, “It is better for me to leave you because if I don’t go I won’t be sending the Holy Spirit to be with you. So Jesus’ departure is not really an absence. It’s a presence in a different form.
Now, when Jesus left he must have felt a great sense of accomplishment. In August 2011 NASA launched a spacecraft named Juno from Cape Canaveral to go up to Jupiter. Five years later, July 4, 2016, it arrived at Jupiter and started to orbit the planet. The moment it arrived at Jupiter everyone at NASA let out a collective cheer and high-fiving everybody – did you ever see those scenes? Everybody was so excited. Because they had waited five years after planning this project and finally it is accomplished. What a great sense of accomplishment.
Now people graduating from high school, or college or people retiring, you can appreciate this. A sense of accomplishment.
I remember in 2006, Wegman’s received an award for the Best Company to Work For in the United States. I remember Bob Wegman, the CEO, said, “I’ve waited all my life for this moment.” And then he died shortly after.
I remember Dorothy MacAvoy, she was 80 years old, and she attended Reverend Mary’s ordination. She came out at the Eastman Theater and she threw up her arms and she said, “Lord! You can take me. I’ve seen everything now. I’m ready to die.”
Sarah Lee spent ten years out in the streets degrading herself on Lyell Avenue and then she lived 52 days at Jennifer House. She said it was the hardest 52 days of her life. A few years later she became the Director of Jennifer House. Last month she got her Masters in Social Work degree. What a sense of accomplishment.
At every AA meeting the leader says, “Is there anybody here celebrating an anniversary?” “Yea,“ one replied, “two years.” Everybody cheers. “Six years!” Everybody applauds. Even if you had been sober 30 days or 90 days you get a sobriety coin.
Last Friday I mowed my grass and I was sitting in the back yard and some kids in the neighborhood came over and this one girl said, “I had a birthday this week!” And I said, “How old are you?” She sticks out five fingers. Very proud. I said, “Do you like being 5?” “I love it!” I asked, “What do you love about it?” She goes, “I’m now a big sister and I can help my little sister.” Sense of accomplishment even for a five year-old.
So Jesus must have felt a sense of accomplishment. He traveled around Palestine for three years doing good as Peter describes it. It’s kind of an understatement isn’t it? Jesus went around doing good. But wouldn’t that be a great thing for people to say about us at .our funeral? That she went around doing good. That he went around doing good.
People loved him. Some people hated him. But he completed his work. And then he is ready to go to heaven.
Now there is no ascension without a descension. The decree tells that he descended into hell before he ascended into heaven. Now, I never knew what that meant. He descended in to hell. Well, the Romans arrested him. They tortured him. They put him to death. His friends deserted him. He even felt abandoned by God. Where are you God? He was in hell. That’s hell. Just feeling the absence of everybody. He descended in to hell. We’ve all been there. We’ve all had those dark nights of the soul. Some of us right now may feel it’s the darkest hour right now. Maybe it’s midnight in our lives. Maybe we have been fired. Maybe we have been cheated on. Maybe we have been shunned. Maybe we are in the midst of a depression.
I love what Dr. King said about midnight. He said, “There is one good thing about midnight. And that is it doesn’t last. It gives way to the dawn.” The Psalm says, “You may cry all night but in the morning comes rejoicing.”
Jesus said before he left, “Don’t leave the city yet. Wait for the Spirit.” Wait for the Spirit to come and then you can go. Now, it is hard to wait. It’s hard to wait for anything. He doesn’t say how long it’s going to be.
We’ve learned to wait at Spiritus Christi. Things take a lot longer than we thought. Whether it is working on racial justice or the environment or building our outreach programs. It all takes longer than we thought. And sometimes we need to let go of what’s familiar and wait for the Spirit to move us to a better place. A more unpredictable place.
So don’t go ahead of Grace. Wait for Grace to lead you. Wait for Grace to guide you. Wait for the Spirit.
Before Jesus leaves the disciples ask one last question. John Shay says the role of the disciples in scripture is to ask stupid questions. So they have one last stupid question to ask. They say, “Are you going to restore the kingdom of God now to Israel?” In other words are you going to throw those Romans out and get our land back? And Jesus must have thought, “Oh! You idiots. I spent three years telling you I wouldn’t do that.” But he is kind and says, “That’s up to the Father.”
And then he gives a universal mission. “Go to all the nations.” This isn’t about restoring only one nation…Israel. Go to all the nations. Not just God bless American. God bless everybody. Not just bless the Catholics or bless my species or my political party or my neighborhood. You’ve seen that bumper sticker: God bless everyone. No exceptions.
It said they worshiped him but they also had doubts. Can you relate to that? That they worshiped him but they also had doubts.
In 2007, Mother Teresa’s journal revealed that she had experiences of desolation. Here is what she wrote: “In my soul I feel just that terrible pain of loss of God not wanting me. Of God not even existing. My darkness was overwhelming.”
In Mark’s gospel a man says to Jesus, “I do believe but help my unbelief.” Part of me believes and part of me doesn’t. I can relate to that and hope you can too.
There is a Chinese proverb that says the sails of ships have holes in them but they still work. So there are holes in our faith but we’ve still got faith. Part of me believes and part of me doesn’t.
So the disciples are watching Jesus leave, going up in the sky. The Angles appear and they say, “Why are you looking up at an empty sky? This Jesus who has left you will come back just as mysteriously as he left you.”
We say at the mass, Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ will come again. I always say to myself Christ will come again and again and again. And I look around at all of the people again and again and again. God is constantly coming back through the people.
So don’t look up to see Jesus. Look around. Look at your coworkers. Look in your neighborhood. Look at the immigrants. Even look at the terrorists, the school shooters, the politicians, and find Jesus. Don’t look up. Look around.
And look around in nature. What a time of year this is. It is just teaming with beautiful flowers and trees and birds. Spring is dripping with divinity.
There is a Celtic story about a monk named Brother Phoenix. Brother Phoenix was praying in his cell and all of a sudden a bird started singing outside of his window. Chirping and chirping and chirping. The monk, Brother Phoenix, was so captivated by that sound. That beautiful sound of the bird that he could think of nothing else. When the song stopped Brother Phoenix went to the monastery dining room to have lunch but he didn’t recognize the monks. And they didn’t recognize him. He mentioned the names of the monks that he lives with. They never heard of them. He says, “My name is Brother Phoenix.” “We don’t know you.” Finally one of the monks looked in the records of the previous monks and sure enough. Years and years ago there was a Brother Phoenix who mysteriously disappeared. This is a story about the attention to a present moment. It allows one to break in to eternal time. Eternal time moves in a different rhythm than normal time. A region of our soul inhabits the eternal. Part of us is invulnerable to the ravages of normal time. Stay in the present.
So don’t look up in to an empty sky. Look around you and discover divinity in yourself, in one another and all around in creation. And know that all is well.
Jesus tells us on Ascension Day, “My work is done.” I’ve finished my work; I’ve passed it on to you. The torch is passed to you. “Be my witnesses to all the nations. Carry on my work and remember I am always with you.”
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