RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
This week the Church celebrated the
Feast day of the Ascension of Jesus Christ.
So, what does that mean to us, it is written that 40 days after Jesus was resurrected He ascended into Heaven. Leaving no body to bury and probably a little confusion. Why 40 days? The number 40 is always a significant timeframe in the bible and it represents a generation or completion of a cycle, Moses was 40 years old when he led the Israelites out of Egypt, he spent another 40 years in the desert. Jesus was in the desert for 40 days, there are 40 days of Lent and 40 days leading to the Ascension, there are certainly more that I won’t go into today. Jesus spent the 40 days teaching, talking, eating and preparing His disciples for the coming of the Holy Spirit and His departing.
Before the Ascension Jesus informs His Apostles that sorrow and grief will be a part of their lives. This is a very sober but realistic statement on the part of our Lord. It’s an act of love, on His part, to be upfront with His Apostles about the coming hardships they will face.
The good news is that Jesus follows this statement with the hopeful news that their “grief will become joy.” This is the most important part of what Jesus says.
The same is true in our lives. Jesus does not promise us that our lives will be free from hardship and pain. He does not tell us that following Him means that all will be easy in life. Instead, He wants us to know that we will follow in His footsteps if we choose to follow Him. He suffered, was mistreated and ultimately killed. And this would be tragic if He did not ultimately rise from the dead, ascend into Heaven and transform all prior grief and pain into the very means of the salvation of the world.
If we follow in His footsteps, we need to see every bit of grief in our lives as potentially a means of grace. If we can face the hardships of life with faith and hope, nothing will ultimately keep us down and everything will be able to be used for God’s glory and will result in great joy.
Have a peaceful return to full time face to face learning,
Steve Robinson
Religious Education Coordinator