“We Are Not Orphans”
Father Peter Fitzgibbons
May 23 – 24, 2020
Scripture: Matthew 28: 16-20
Today, we celebrate the Feast of the Solemnity of the Church and the Ascension of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Our Lord used the body and human nature that He took from the Blessed Virgin Mary to teach, console, heal, suffer and redeem us. He had two natures in one… a divine nature and a human nature. Two “Whats” and one “Who.” His body was united and assumed into His divine nature. He took the body He redeemed us with to heaven. That’s your theology lesson for the day. What does the body that He suffered and died with actually do in heaven? He uses it to intercede for us. How does He do that? He shows the Father His sacred wounds. So the body with all the marks of love on it…the five sacred wounds…the marks of divine love….was offered to the Father on our behalf…His way of pleading for us. We should take great comfort in that…not assumption, but comfort. Always pray for intercession. Remember, the sixth word from the cross: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” That is our only excuse for sin.
He said “I shall come back and take you with Me.” Indeed, He teaches us exactly how to gain salvation. He shows us the way by leading and asking us to follow Him. “Take up your cross and follow Me.” We follow Him to the cross…carrying whatever crosses we have and those that await us. From that cross, we will die, rise, and be with Him. I will come back to take you with Me whether from this world or at the end of time. He will come back to take us with Him…those who love Him. That’s good news…we get to be with the One we should love above all things. We get to go to heaven, and He has shown us the way there. We know that Heaven is a place, because the body cannot exist without a place. But, what is Heaven? Theology 101: It is the presence of God. So, we will dwell with Him. Remember the transfiguration? We will have a human body once it is perfected after we die. Our body, when resurrected, on the last day will be like His.
A good leader goes out before everyone else and shows them the precise way. One thing I was praised for in my Officer Basic Course was my willingness to help other officer candidates. I was pretty fast back then and a lot younger too. After I finished my run, I would go back to help others finish the course. If you didn’t pass, you failed the course, and you didn’t receive a commission. So, you helped anyone who was struggling by picking them up and dragging them across the finish line if necessary. Our Lord does that. After all, we are not orphans. As Pope Leo the Great said, we see His physical presence in the teachings of the Church. He is still teaching us the way to salvation. We see Him in the most Blessed Sacrament. He is present in all seven of the Sacraments. He is present and active among us. We will get more in to that next week when we talk about Pentecost.
We hear His voice how? We hear His voice in the teachings of the Church that tell us about the divine truth….the revelation of His great love and mercy. He is still here; we can see Him, and we can feel Him. If we look, we can see Him right now. I bet Mass won’t be over long before an ambulance flies down the highway. Who is treating that person on the way to the hospital? My brother did it for a living. God used my brother’s human nature to provide healing and to keep that person alive long enough to get to the hospital and the doctors. That is God’s healing power. The nurses in Hospice when they were able to…not anymore…hold a man’s hand as he is dying because his wife isn’t there anymore and the memories come back. Now they have to wear PPE and latex gloves. Nothing like the feeling of latex on the hand.
The love of God’s presence is with you. He is in heaven, but He is also everywhere else. He said, “I am with you always until the end of time.” And that’s true. He is always there. The apostles had trouble seeing Him even after three years of observing miracles…and right up until the end those who had doubts bowed in homage. We, too, have trouble seeing Him, although some days are better than others. That’s why He said “blessed are those who do not see and yet believe.”
How will you apply this message to your life? Can you see Him? Hear Him? No? Perhaps you need to visit the Sacraments.