Happy Solemnity of the Ascension! And happy Mother’s Day! Two great celebrations are wrapped up in one day this year – and we have Confirmations as well!
Mothers play such a special role in the life of each and every one of us. Without our mothers, we would not have received the gift of life. Mothers not only give us the gift of biological life, but along with fathers, they are also responsible for leading their children to the fountain of spiritual life that is the Heart of Jesus Christ.
Today, on the feast of the Ascension of Jesus into heaven, we realize and celebrate the fact that the gift of life is so much more than what we see and know here and now in this world and that Jesus opens for us the gates of heaven by going before us. Today, we celebrate that heaven is not just a nice idea or some ethereal state, but that heaven is a real place of eternal love, eternal life, and eternal communion for those who place their trust in God and who walk in His Way. Perhaps the best way to celebrate today is thanksgiving: we give God the Father thanks today for the gift of the joy of heavenly communion and for the gift of our mothers who give us the possibility of ending up there by giving us the beginning of eternal life both biologically and by any way they have encouraged a life of faith.
May we live that gratitude by following the command of Jesus to “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature [so that] whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.”