Meditate on God’s Word

Being the Hands and Feet of Christ

This Sunday we celebrate the great feast of the Ascension of the Lord which is ripe with spiritual importance and depth. Let us examine how the Lord’s ascension affects us as stewards. Firstly, when the apostles watched the Lord ascend into heaven, two angels appeared and asked them “why do you stand looking up toward heaven?” The apostles were not meant to stay there constantly gazing heavenward. Instead, they, like us, are called to live firmly on this earth with our whole purpose set on reaching heaven and leading as many people with us as possible.

We see this at the end of St. Matthew’s Gospel when Jesus gives the great commission to “make disciples of all nations.” Jesus’ ascension is a firm call to action. A call to be stewards and use our gifts to spread the Gospel within our parishes and the Church. We do this through the strength of Christ within us who says “remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

It is now up to us to cooperate with the Spirit and make disciples of the whole world. Let us end by pondering the beautiful saying of St. Teresa of Avila. “Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which He looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which He walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which He blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are His Body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.”

Summary

Jesus’ ascension is a firm call to action for at the end of St. Matthew’s Gospel He gives us the great commission to “make disciples of all nations.” This is a call to be stewards and use our gifts to spread the Gospel within our parishes and the Church. Let us strive to do this through the strength of Christ within us who says “remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”