Chaplain’s Corner May 23rd

For the whole of this half-term we have been in the season of Easter. The liturgical prayers for this time of year continue to celebrate Christ’s resurrection.
During the half-term holiday we will celebrate the great Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord. Forty days after his resurrection on Easter Day, Jesus returned to the Father, ascending into heaven.
The Gospel reading for the Ascension, from the Gospel of Luke, says, ‘While Jesus blessed the disciples, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.’ It is interesting to reflect on why the disciples were so joyful. They had, after all, just been experiencing the joy of having Jesus back amongst them following his resurrection, only to see him dramatically depart from them again to return to heaven. But they did not see the departure of Jesus as a loss or source of regret; instead they were joyful.
At the end of his earthly ministry the disciples were brought to an understanding in the fullest sense of who Jesus was. They came to understand the teachings he had given them over the previous three years as they came to be fulfilled in their presence. They knew that Jesus had to return to the Father, because that is what he had told them, even if they had not previously understood Jesus’ meaning. In the light of the resurrection, they understood and they believed. Jesus’ work on earth was complete … it was now up to the disciples to continue it.
The knowledge that the disciples had been in the presence of the Son of God, and that he had now trusted them – and would give them the Holy Spirit to help them – to continue his work on earth, brought them great joy. What a privilege to be entrusted with doing God’s work on earth! (That, of course, is a privilege entrusted to all Christians.) Also bringing them joy was the knowledge that Jesus’ death had not been and was not the end; he would live on with the Father in heaven. Jesus taught them about eternal life, so for them too, death would not be the end. There is an eternal life in heaven where every tear will be wiped away and where peace and unity with Christ and with all those we have loved will be found.