There were only eleven of them, eleven disciples. Judas had left
the group and Matthias had not yet been chosen. So just eleven men went to
Galilee following the message Jesus had given to them on Easter Sunday through
Mary Magdalen. They were told to meet Jesus on the mountain in Galilee. What were they thinking when they
climbed that mountain? Were they thinking about Moses who climbed Mt. Sinai to
receive God’s covenant of the Ten Commandments? Perhaps they were thinking
about Elijah who climbed that same mountain, only called Horeb. Elijah was told
he would experience the Presence of God and expected the same display of power
and awe that Moses experienced. Only for Elijah, God’s power was in the still,
quiet voice of the Spirit. Maybe
the disciples were thinking about a mountain they climbed only a few years
before, the Mountain of the Beatitudes and the teaching that Jesus gave there,
the Sermon on the Mount. Perhaps
they were thinking about the Transfiguration, the mystical appearance of Jesus,
Moses and Elijah, also on a mountain.
Certainly, they knew that there would be a special experience of God
waiting for them on the mountain in Galilee.
When they got to the top, they found Jesus there. They
saw Him, and they worshiped him. They realized that He was the Son of God. Yet, some of them still were full of
doubt. How could it be possible
that this man with whom they walked and ate and talked over the last three
years, whose violent death they had fled, how could it be that he could have
risen from the dead and be waiting for them on the mountain? Was this a dream?
Was it an apparition? Some of the
disciples still doubted. Jesus answered their doubts immediately: All power in heaven and earth has been given
to me. Now, go from here and make
disciples of all nations. Baptize them in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy
Spirit. Jesus himself proclaims the Divine Trinity and empowers the
disciples to bestow the life of the Trinity on the Baptized.
Teach
them to carry out everything I have commanded you, and know that I am with you
always, until the end of time. The disciples became apostles. The learners, disciples, were sent,
apostles. How could these eleven
transform the world? They could
transform the world through the power they received. They could transform the
world through the Presence of the Lord. But Jesus was ascending to the Father.
He would no longer be walking with them, teaching them and guiding them as He
had been the last three years. Still, He said to them, Know that I am with you, always. They would not be alone.
We are not alone, either; even though we often have
feelings of abandonment in life.
We often feel alone. Even the busiest of Moms with a house full of
children and an attentive husband feels alone in the world. How can anyone
understand her fears, her struggles, her upset? Everyone compliments her, but
no one realizes how tired she is. She can talk to her mother, but her mother
only says it will pass. She might
as well talk to the wall.
That attentive and dutiful husband likewise feels
overwhelmed with his responsibilities to the present and future of his
family. He doesn’t want to burden
his wife. She doesn’t fully
understand why his fear of unemployment is so intense. Men have been raised to
be the provider for the family.
Most men are devastated when they are unable to provide. The husband can try talking to his
friends, but the conversations men have with each other are very different than
those women have with other women. Even the most pious senior who says three
rosaries a day feels very alone in the world. Everyone thinks that he is a man of supreme faith, she a
woman like the matriarchs of the Old Testament. How can they tell others that they are afraid to die? How
can they tell them that they are often afraid to think about the past because
most of those they knew way back then are no longer alive?
Jesus knows what it is like to be alone. Jesus, one of us, the one who died
deserted by all, felt the loss of his Father’s Presence and cried out, My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?
He experienced the human feeling of loneliness. Jesus’ answer to loneliness is
his Resurrection, Ascension and the sending of the Spirit, Pentecost. Now no
one who calls upon Him will ever be alone. Know that I am with you
always until the end of days. So, I don’t think that there are any more
reassuring words of Scripture than those.
We are not alone. Jesus is
with us. In fact the name he is
given in this same Gospel is Emmanuel, God with Us. He never deserts us.
He never leaves us alone.
So go out and get to work! Tell the world about the
Messiah! Let us preach through our lives, and when we think we are alone, we
need to realize that Jesus is closer to us than ever before. He didn’t ascend
into heaven to leave us. He entered into the dimension of the spiritual so we
could experience the Power of God within us, the Holy Spirit, and bring His
Presence to the World. We will never be alone. Know that I am with you always until the end of time ■
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