Go and tell the good news!

Ephesians 1:17-20

I  ask the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, to give you the Spirit, who will make you wise and reveal God to you, so that you will know him. I ask that your minds may be opened to see his light, so that you will know what is the hope to which he has called you, how rich are the wonderful blessings he promises his people, and how very great is his power at work in us who believe. This power working in us is the same as the mighty strength which he used when he raised Christ from death and seated him at his right side in the heavenly world.

Food for thought!

Tomorrow, we celebrate Ascension, the 40 days after Easter. In some countries, this day is pushed to the nearest Sunday. Be it as it may, let us look at its significance. Let us try to understand what Ascension really stands for.

In today's second reading, Paul is praying for you and me; he is praying that we may understand what Ascension of Jesus brings us, makes of us, means. He says, «I ask the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, to give you the Spirit, who will make you wise and reveal God to you, so that you will know him. I ask that your minds may be opened to see his light, so that you will know what is the hope to which he has called you, how rich are the wonderful blessings he promises his people, and how very great is his power at work in us who believe.» Oh yes, I do also wish that you and me do understand the significance of Jesus' Ascension.

By Jesus' Ascension something happens. Something very great. To understand it, remember that in Genesis, after Adam and Eve sinned, God cursed them: «You were made out of the ground. And you will return to it. You are dust. So you will return to i.t» (Gen. 3:19). This meant in effect that our destiny and our destination be the grave; we couldn't go beyond the grave. What Jesus had achieved with his Ascension, is to take us beyond the grave: «He seated him at his right hand in his heavenly kingdom. There Christ sits far above all who rule and have authority. He also sits far above all powers and kings. He is above every title that can be given in this world and in the world to come.» Christ came, took upon himself our human body, and took it to «the right hand» of the Father.

This is what today's gospel says: «When the Lord Jesus finished speaking to them, he was taken up into heaven. He sat down at the right hand of God.» By so doing, Jesus deleted the curse that we inherited from Adam and Eve; he changed the bad news of Genesis into good news; now we are no longer destined for the ground; we are now destined to heaven, to the right hand of the Father. This is what St. Paul is praying for you and me to grasp and understand.

Jesus has changed our bad news into good news; has changed us from nobodies into somebodies; has changed us from nothing into something; has taken our human body beyond the grave. Now, we are destined to heaven. Now, we are heaven bound. This is the Good news that Jesus commands us to share: «Go into all the world. Preach the good news to everyone.» (Mark 16:15).

We are to take this Good news to everyone going through hard times, everyone worried, everyone suffering, everyone groping with bad news. There is so much bad news around us; there are so many people who have lost jobs, who have lost hope; who are disparate and despaired. It is to these people that we are to take the good news of Jesus. Like Jesus, we are to go these people and tell them to hold on, to continue hopeful. We are to change people's badness into good news. That is the mission Jesus leaves us to do in his name. So, if you know someone down, someone going through difficulties, someone struggling to make ends meet, someone who has lost their job, their joy, their dear one, please go to them or call them and restore their hope, their courage, their love, their faith. This is what Jesus is saying today: «Go out and tell the good news to everyone under bad news.» (Mark 16:15).