Since Easter, our scriptures are taken from the post-resurrection accounts. Today, though, Jubilate Sunday our thoughts begin to be directed toward the coming Ascension of the Lord. The Gospel is taken from the Last Supper Discourse—the Lord’s Farewell address where he prepares his disciples for the end of his earthly ministry culminating in his passion and death. And yet we are presented with the Lord’s farewell speech of the Lord, to help us anticipate his Glorious Ascension.
No doubt, after his resurrection the apostles desired the Lord to stay among them, much like the way Peter begged the Lord to remain on the mount of transfiguration. But having accomplished His mission, the Lord must return to the Father who sent Him, that the next age of the Church might begin.
40 days much have seemed like such a short time. The 3 years of his public ministry must have felt like such a short time. 7 times in the Gospel, the Lord uses the word “Modicum”—a little while. “In a little while you shall not see me,” he says.
Compared to eternity, the time we spend on anything in this life is truly a short time. Our earthly pilgrimage takes place over the course of a modicum of time—just the smallest while—when compared to timeless eternity. For some that causes some trepidation—even sorrow. But we know what awaits us—glory.
Although our earthly pilgrimage is short compared with “the eternal weight of glory” which awaits us, the Lord knows that often our trials are overwhelming—our earthly sufferings seem like an eternity. “You shall lament and weep,” he says, “while the world rejoices”. It’s not always easy to live with heaven in mind. Sadness and sorrow have a way of causing us to lose our focus, and it takes a real act of faith, to recall that, compared to eternity, our sufferings are fleeting. St. Theresa of Avila famously quipped that compared to eternity, the sufferings of our life are like spending a single evening in an uncomfortable hotel. That uncomfortable night is seen as a minor inconvenience compared to glory.
It's not easy for the Christian to maintain this perspective, living in the world, after all. For we live among many who do not live with eternity in mind. We live among the worldly who immerse themselves in the passing pleasures of the earth. And sometimes we begin to envy them. And it seems unfair, and it takes constant effort to remind ourselves that those who settle for instant gratification are failing to store up for themselves treasure in heaven. Instead of sincere prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, they seek their reward now.
The Christian however does not make the aim of our earthly pilgrimage the grasping at carnal pleasures or human attention. Rather, he practices humility, renunciation, and mortification, in order to secure heavenly and eternal happiness. “You shall be sorrowful” in this life, the Lord says, “but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.”
There was an order of monks whose motto was “semper Quadragesima”—always Lent, because they wanted to remain vigilant about putting into practice those Lenten practices all year round, knowing that they hold the key to perfection and joy--jubilation. Jubilation Sunday is a good day for us to consider the spiritual practices, like those we practiced during Lent, that we might need to resume, for joy’s sake.
In the Epistle, St. Peter exhorts us to live on earth with eternity in mind: “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, to refrain yourselves from carnal desires which war against the soul.” We are strangers in a strange land. We are to live in the world, but not be of the world. Constantly aware of the spiritual battle to remain faithful in temptation.
However, that is not to say that we can’t enjoy our time on earth. God made this world, and he made it very good. As a young seminarian, I would go out to breakfast after morning mass with an old retired priest who had residence at my home parish, Fr. Wilfred Smith. And after grace before the meal, he would always say, “thank God for tastebuds”. In this life, we CAN thank God for tastebuds. We CAN and SHOULD thank God for our ability to enjoy beautiful vistas, beautiful music, delicious aromas and foods, and human closeness.
And when we approach these things with a spirit of gratitude, immediately thanking God for tastebuds, thanking God who is the giver of gifts, thanking God for our ability to partake in sight and sound and taste and touch, that can certainly help to protect us from living for these things, making false gods of sensible appetites—living for the creature without reference to the Creator, seeking to escape our inevitable sufferings by turning to the finite, instead of opening our souls to the infinite.
God is present in the joys of life, just as he is present in our sufferings.
Whether sorrowing or rejoicing, may we live with our hearts, minds, souls, and strength fixed on the Crucified-and-Risen One, the source of all goodness, mercy, and joy, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
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