Mission accomplished

**media[15846]**WORD ALIVEOn Ascension Sunday, we commemorate the end of the Lord’s public ministry in this world. “Mission accomplished,” Jesus would say. It does not mean that he is no longer with us or went into “retirement from public service.” The Lord is still present but in his invisible form like his sacramental presence in the Holy Mass. He declared before he ascended to heaven, "Remember, I am with you always until the end of the world" (Mt 28,30). The Lord’s Ascension into heaven also teaches us that our final destiny is not in this world but in heaven. Where he went, we will follow if we are faithful to his teachings. That’s so different from an atheist or unbeliever who dies. When inside the coffin or columbarium, he is all dressed up but nowhere to go!There’s a noteworthy insight from the “Acts of the Apostles.” After Jesus ascended, “two men in white,” presumably angels, tell the disciples: “Why are you looking up to heaven? Jesus who has been taken up will return as you have seen him go” (Acts 1,11). In short, Christ will do a McArthur — “I shall return.”* * *In the "interim” or meantime period, the time between his Ascension and his return in the Last Judgment, we are told not to fix our concern solely on the afterlife but to establish “colonies of heaven” already here on earth.Establishing heavenly colonies means that we must work assiduously to make God’s Kingdom on earth, a kingdom characterized by justice, love, truth, and peace.When Jesus will return in the Last Judgment, he will judge us by our good or evil deeds. The good will be rewarded but the evil will be condemned to eternal damnation (Mt 25, 35ff.)* * * Do you remember the American actress Whoopi Goldberg who delighted millions of viewers in the highly-acclaimed movies, “Ghost” and “Sister Act”? Every year Goldberg co-hosts a TV program to raise funds to aid her country’s numerous homeless. Asked why she was doing it, she said, “I fear waking up one morning and finding out that my life was for nothing. We’re here for a reason and that is to throw little torches out to lead people through the dark.” * * *Today, the Catholic Church marks the World Communication’s Day. This event is in response to Jesus’ command before his Ascension to heaven: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the good news to all creation” (Mk 16,15).Note that the Lord said “proclaim the Good News.” While there’s a lot of fake news and disinformation around, the media should highlight the more inspiring news of success, compassion, peace, honesty, and human development.* * *Humor. Once a devout lay minister died and off he went to the next life. There, one either goes to the top floor: Heaven, where the righteous are rewarded with eternal bliss; others go to purgatory where they are cleansed (purged); and others go to hell, where there’s eternal punishment.The lay minister found himself in purgatory. As he roamed about his new home, to his surprise he met his former parish priest.“Father, I didn’t expect you to be here,” the excited parishioner exclaimed. “Why aren't you up there?” pointing to heaven. “Sshhh, quiet, Brod. I saw our politician down below in hell!” said the priest. (Email: belsvd@gmail.com)