Acts 1:1-11/ Eph 1:17-23/ Mt 28:16-20
From the gospel passage that we have just heard, what was that one word or phrase that sounds really out of place?
I have the reading in front of me so it’s easy for me to see it.
Pity we don’t have Sunday missals otherwise we can look at it again. But can you remember…?
Well, that one word or phrase that sounds really out of place is part of a longer sentence.
It is this – When they saw him they fell down before him (that sounds well and good)
And then comes this phrase that ended off the sentence – though some hesitated.
Why must the gospel mention ‘though some hesitated’.
And that sounds out of place, especially when Jesus is about to give His last teaching before ascending into heaven.
In fact, the gospel passage is often called ‘The Great Commissioning’.
But then, why this “though some hesitated”?
And we can substitute other terms to mean the same thing, eg, though some were in two minds; though some get distracted, though some lost focus.
So there they were, with Jesus right in front of them and about to ascend to heaven, and some hesitated, some were in two minds, some lost focus, some got distracted.
But of course some also went down in worship.
We too have come in worship and thanksgiving as we celebrate the Ascension of the Lord into heaven.
Yet, we may also hesitate.
We may be in two minds, or actually the body is here, the mind is somewhere else.
Or we may get distracted. Maybe we thinking of what to buy at the Great Singapore Sale.
Or we may lose focus.
But whether we hesitate, or are in two minds or distracted or lost focus, the Lord tells us this:
Know that I am with you always, yes to the end of time.
That is a divine promise, it’s an eternal promise.
Yes, Jesus is with us always, till the end of time.
St Augustine said this about the Ascension: Jesus withdrew from our eyes that we might return to our hearts to find Him there.
As we heard in the 1st reading, Jesus will give us the power of the Holy Spirit to return to our hearts to find Him there.
So let us not hesitate, let us not be in two minds, let us not be distracted or lose focus.
Let us pray and let the Holy Spirit guide us to be with Jesus who is in our hearts always.
Jesus wants to be with us always, so that we can be with Him till the end of time.