The Ascension of Jesus (Rembrandt)
Today we honor Mary, the Blessed Mother of God, as at the same time, we honor all women who live out their vocation as mothers not only to their children, but to all for whom they care. And over all of this we celebrate the Solemnity of our Lord ascending into heaven.
Jesus ascended into heaven body and soul. It was something he had to do to fulfill his mission. As long as he was on earth and inhabited a human body, he, like all of us, could only be in one place at one time. He ascended into heaven so that he could be everywhere at one time, through you and through me. We who have been baptized into the Body of Christ, are to bring the presence of Jesus to all we know and meet in life.
In the first reading, after receiving the mandate from Jesus to witness to the gospel throughout all the world, the apostles stood staring in the sky. Two men in white, presumably angels, basically said to the apostles, “Why are you just standing around here looking at the sky? Go back to Jerusalem and get busy doing what he just told you to do.” This is a message that is one not only for the apostles, but for all of us. As disciples of Jesus, we are to be actively engaged in being a witness to Jesus in our own part of the world.
Being a witness to Jesus implies that we live the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As St. Francis of Assisi told his followers, “preach the Gospel at all times, and, if necessary, use words.” The way we live out the gospel in our lives is a more powerful witness to Jesus, than what we say. There is an old Italian story about a young mother that perhaps illustrates this the best.
Long ago, Italians believed that Jesus and St. Peter would often visit the earth, often disguised as two poor men making a pilgrimage to a shrine. They did this to see how well people were carrying on the Jesus’ command to continue to give witness to the gospel. In one story, Jesus and St. Peter, dressed in tattered, weather-beaten clothes walk into a small Italian town.
They see a big, beautiful home with lovely flower gardens, and a well-manicured lawn and decide to stop there and ask for food and shelter. The woman of the house, who was very well-to-do, answered the door and looked very suspiciously at the two ragged men standing at her door. Jesus told her, “Good lady, my companion and I are on a pilgrimage to a shrine. We are wondering if you could give us a little food and perhaps a place in the stable in which we might sleep tonight.” She replied rather sternly, “I cannot help you. However, there is a family across the road who might be able to assist you.” Then, she slammed the door in their faces.
Jesus and St. Peter looked across the road. There was a small, little house that was in need of repair. It was very obviously the home of someone who was poor. So they crossed the road and knocked on the door. A young woman, who had a baby in her arms and three small children hanging on her patched dress, opened the door.
Jesus said to her, “Good woman, my companion and I are on pilgrimage to a shrine. We are wondering if you could give us a little food and perhaps a place in the shed in which we might sleep tonight.” She replied, “My husband and I do not have much, but what we have is yours. Please come in and make yourselves comfortable from your journey.” She sat them down in front of the hearth as she got busy making supper and looking after the needs of her children. When her husband got home from work, she invited Jesus and St. Peter to the table for a shared meal, meager as it was. Following supper, the woman and her husband cleaned up the dishes, and got the children ready for bed.
Jesus and St. Peter got up and Jesus said, “My companion and I will go out to the shed in back so that you and your husband can get some rest.” She replied, “Nonsense! I will not have you sleeping with the chickens. I insist you sleep here in our house.” She went and got a couple of pillows and blankets and set up a space near the hearth for Jesus and St. Peter to sleep so that they could be warm through the night. Then she and her husband went to bed.
Early the next morning the woman arose, prepared a little breakfast for her husband, her children, and Jesus and St. Peter. As Jesus and St. Peter were getting ready to leave, she pressed into their hands some bread, a little cheese and two flagons of water. “This is food for the long journey you will make today. May God bless you!”
Jesus looked at her with great kindness and love. He told her, “Though we may look like poor pilgrims, I am Jesus, and this man is St. Peter. You have treated us with great kindness and generosity. In thanksgiving, I give you this one gift. After we leave today, the first thing you do today, you will do very well throughout the rest of the day.” Then they left.
The young woman thought, “I have much wool that needs to be spun into thread. So she got her spinning wheel and the raw wool she had. She sat down at her spinning wheel and spun thread throughout the day so well, that by the end of the day she had an overabundance of thread by which she could make clothes for her family.
The rich woman who lived across the street came over to the poor woman’s house and asked about the two strangers who stayed the night. The young woman told her how the two men were really Jesus and St. Peter, and how they blessed her so that she could spin all this wool into thread. The rich woman, jealous of the blessing given to the young woman, said to her, “If ever they come back through town looking for lodging, send them to me.” The young woman said that she would.
Jesus and St. Peter made a return trip through the town and immediately went to the young woman’s house. She welcomed them with great joy and told them, “The woman who lives across the street regrets that she treated you so poorly. While you are very welcome to stay here, might you give her a second chance?” Jesus said that he would. St. Peter said to Jesus as they crossed the street, “You know this rich woman is only going to welcome us for the blessing you will give her when we leave.” Jesus replied, “Her true intentions will reveal whether she will receive a blessing or a curse.”
The rich woman welcomed them with open arms. She treated them well and prepared for them a great feast. They then slept on featherbeds next to a warm fire throughout the night. As they prepared to leave, Jesus said to her, ““Though we may look like poor pilgrims, I am Jesus, and this man is St. Peter. You have treated us with great kindness and generosity. In thanksgiving, I give you this one gift. After we leave today, the first thing after we leave, you will do very well throughout the rest of the day.” Then they left.
The rich woman got out her spinning wheel and all her raw wool and said to herself, “I am going to spin even more wool than did that poor woman across the street. But first, I better go to the bathroom.” And, it was in the bathroom that the rich woman spent the rest of the day.
The young woman gave witness to Jesus in the way she cared for the strangers at her door. On this feast of the Ascension, we give thanks for the many ways our Blessed Mother and our mothers have given witness to Jesus, not so much by what they have said but on how well they have lived the gospel in acts of love for us and others. May we, in turn, emulate the example of the Blessed Mother and our mothers, by giving witness and preach Jesus in the way we live out our faith in acts of love.
