Jesus is our Divine Physician

Homily for May 8, 2016 (Ascension of the Lord) [Mothers’ Day—USA]

Acts 1:1-11; Ephesians 1:17-23; Luke 24:46-53

In an episode of the TV show Criminal Minds, Agent Rossi tells Prentiss:  “Scars remind us of where we’ve been.  They don’t have to dictate where we’re going.”  I have an 8-inch scar from my sternum to near the bottom of my rib cage that will for a long time remind me of where I’ve been:  the surgery I had in December to replace a defective aortic valve, subsequent hospitalizations to treat infections, cardiac rehab, and many visits to the doctor.  Next weekend, I’ll join two younger friars in a 5K run.  Thanks to a host of doctors, nurses, CNA’s and especially the Lord, that’s where I’m going!

One of the central elements of a successful open heart surgery is a well-working heart-lung bypass machine.  In order to perform some surgeries, the doctors must first stop the heart.  The heart-lung machine keeps blood flowing through the body and also removes carbon dioxide and replaces it with the oxygen that our muscles need to function. 

As we celebrate the ascension of Jesus, the Divine Physician who has healed us of our sins and has given us new life, we remember his promise to never abandon us.   Today we hear of his assurances to send the Holy Spirit, the heart-lung machine for our souls, to work with us and do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. 

Despite the fact that they have the same author, the accounts of Jesus’ ascension in Acts 1 is a little different than the one in Luke 24.  In our gospel passage, Jesus urges his disciples to stay in Jerusalem for the promise of his Father to be fulfilled when they will be “clothed with power from on high.”  In our first reading, Jesus is more specific, telling them to wait for their baptism with the Holy Spirit.  Both readings make clear, however, that the power that Jesus will give his followers is for a purpose:  to be his witnesses first in Jerusalem and ultimately to “all nations” and “the ends of the earth.”

This is still the heart of the Church’s mission to not merely acknowledge the reign of God but rather to see that it spreads throughout the world.   The fact this remains our work after 2000 years reminds us more than anything that it is often difficult.  Not everyone who receives the invitation of Jesus responds well to it, and some don’t respond at all.  Not everything that we do is successful. Not all who follow Jesus demonstrate his love and goodness in how they live  We’re all sinners, and at times throughout our history the Church has driven people from Christ as surely as she has brought them closer to him.

Sometimes like the disciples we need to step back from what we’re doing and wait for the heart-lung machine of the Holy Spirit to renew and direct us to where God needs us to be and what God wants us to do.  It seems like a major thing, but in truth it is the essence of being born again.  While we were in the womb, didn’t our mothers in a way act as our heart-lung machines, enabling us to survive and grow?  On this Mothers’ Day we give thanks for the many gifts that they have given us but especially for loving and nurturing us from the earliest stages of our lives.  We also give thanks that God continues to mother us, sustaining us in faith, hope and love so that we and our Church can be who God created us to be and to do what God calls us to do in Christ and through the Holy Spirit. +