THE HANDS OF JESUS

Ascension Luke 24, 46-53 When I was growing up it was always Ascension Thursday. The two went together. Like Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, or Easter Sunday. Ascension had to take place on Thursday because it was 40 days after Easter. Obviously, it doesn’t have to be on Thursday because it isn’t. It is important to note that the Ascension isn’t so much a date in time, but rather it expresses a theology and a spirituality. Jesus physically died, he stopped breathing and his life ended just as it will end for all of us. But it was not the end for Jesus, just as it won’t be the end for us. Jesus rose again on the third day. For some time, maybe 40 days, or a few days, a couple of hours Jesus was physical present to the 12 but then he ascended into heaven. Jesus’ physical body is no longer here among us. We know Jesus is present among us, but we can’t sit down and eat with him like Peter and John did. We can’t hold onto him like Mary Magdalene did, and we certainly can’t put our fingers in his side like Thomas wanted to do. What the Ascension celebrates is a paradox that lies deep at the center of life, namely that we reach a point in life where we can only give our presence more deeply by going away so that others can receive the full blessing of our Spirit. Ascension celebrates that Jesus bodily went to heaven. It also reminds us that Jesus is no longer physically here present to us. This time from Ascension to Pentecost is a time to remember our distance from Jesus. That Jesus is not here the way that he was. I certainly feel the absence of Jesus. I feel the absence of Jesus is the war in Ukraine. I feel the absence of Jesus in the One Million people who have died of Covid-19, I feel the absence of Jesus in the current abortion debate, and I surely feel the absence of Jesus in the death of 21 people in Uvalde TX this past Tuesday. Why doesn’t Jesus come here and resolve all these problems for us? If God is all powerful, it shouldn’t be so hard for God to take away all our difficulties, to solve all our problems to take away all of our pain. As I say am this preaching as much to myself as to all of you. Why is there so much suffering in the world? Needless, pointless suffering, like 19 4th graders and their teachers who are gunned down in their classroom? Jesus obviously isn’t absent to be mean or because he wants us to suffer. No, Jesus is absent because he wants us to do the work. He wants us to know that he is counting us to do something about all the terrible things in the world. My dad was a carpenter. He was very handy with tools, and he made many things that my brothers and sisters still have. I didn’t learn very well but he taught me how to make somethings myself. When there was a job to be done, if he was around, I always relied upon him. He could do a better job than I could, why should I even bother. But like a good dad at times he would leave, not to abandon me, but because he knew that was the only way that I was going to do things by myself. I could go on and give your more examples. If I am with a priest whose Spanish isn’t very good, I’ll just celebrate the mass. But if I am not around… than he will have to do it. Obviously, he will never learn if I am always around. Jesus says to the disciples: “It is better for you that I go away!” And these are painful words. We don’t understand the importance of absence. A parent goes to work or maybe even a business trip to provide for their family; a young person going away to college or even a loved one saying good-bye before they die. Separation hurts, goodbyes bring painful tears, and death of every kind wrenches the heart. That is part of the mystery of Jesus’ love for us. Jesus knew that he had to go so that he could send the Sprit. It is a gift that only can be fully received after we ascend. There is the story of a large statue of Jesus that was severely damaged in Dresden during World War II. Experts were able to repair most of the statue, but the hands were damaged so severely they could not be repaired. The statue remained without the hands. The people added to the base of the statue of Jesus Christ a sign that said, “I have no hands but yours.” We are the hands of Jesus. St Teresa of Avila wrote a poem called the Hands of Christ. “Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.”

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