In a Roman Catholic parochial school, a young student learned that Light waves travel much faster than sound waves. And he knew that we can see as far out in the universe as 46.5 billion light years away. So, when Sister Marie was teaching the Biblical story of the Ascension of Jesus to a class of elementary children. Fascinated by the story, the young student in the class asked Sister Marie, “How fast was Jesus traveling when He ascended into the heavens?” Startled at first, Sister Marie caught her breath and replied, “Well, let’s see. We know that He was not traveling faster than the speed of sound, because the Bible says that He spoke words of blessing to the disciples as he parted from them.”
So, the student quickly calculated and then came back, saying: “WELL THEN, IN THAT CASE, HE’S NOT THERE IN HEAVEN YET!
In the Bible, UP is used metaphorically to refer to closeness to God. UP denotes majesty, glory, dominion, and power. In our Second Reading, Jesus is seated at his right hand of the Father in the heaven, far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion,
Principalities are one of the several angelic orders mentioned in Scripture, including authorities, rulers, thrones, and dominions.
The flipside, according to Ephesians 6:12, is that principalities and powers are numbered among the evil spirits that pose a threat to believers. They are enemies of humanity, but their influence has been shattered by Christ.
Every Roman soldier proclaimed his allegiance to the emperor by saying, “Kyrios Kaisar! Caesar is Lord!” To which those first Christians replied, “Oh, no, Kyrios Christos! Christ is Lord!” And many of them paid with their life for that faith.
“When [the eleven] saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted.” Presumably they doubted that it was Jesus. At Emmaus, "Their eyes were kept from recognizing him." The moment when their eyes were "opened" coincided precisely with the moment when he "vanished out of their sight." Luke does not say whether their recognition of Jesus came from viewing his physical form. Their own description of the incident to the Jerusalem disciples is that he was known to them "in the breaking of the bread."
Only upon reflection can they revel in the enjoyment of his presence with them on the road, "while he opened to us the scriptures."
Theology can work backwards, we look back on our experiences of faith.
There is every indication that these disciples knew Jesus during this earthly life, but no indication that they came to believe he was living through visual recognition of his bodily form. it."
"And while they still disbelieved for joy ..." (24:41) Those who experienced sense perception and nothing more, were not convinced that Jesus was alive. Jesus does not seem troubled by their “doubt” or wavering; He gives them the great commission anyway. Jesus quickly moves the discussion in a different direction.
Indeed, after Pentecost, the apostles are changed men; they show no wavering or doubt.
To illustrate, Paul Siple was leader of the team of scientists that studied conditions at the South Pole. In his workroom at that distant outpost, he had a large globe of the world on his work desk. It was upside down.
“When you’re right side up at the South Pole,” said Dr. Siple, “It’s the rest of the world that’s upside down.”
We need to increase our faith through the Word, and to hear personal testimonies of other Catholics.
There is a strong theoretical foundation linking struggles with doubt to anxiety (Puffer, 2013). From a neurophysiological standpoint, conflict and uncertainty are understood as arising from the activation of a biobehavioral system termed the Behavioral Inhibition System. 1
Doubt produces the phenomenological experience of anxiety: worry, apprehension, and attention to negative outcomes (Corr, 2011). Doubting one's belief in God) is perceived as central to one's identity.
For example, in an early study on this topic, it was determined that questioning one’s beliefs was related to anxiety in seminary students, university students, and church members. 2
In number 2088, the Catechism says, “The first commandment requires us to nourish and protect our faith with prudence and vigilance, and to reject everything that is opposed to it. There are various ways of sinning against faith:
Voluntary doubt about the faith disregards or refuses to hold as true what God has revealed and the Church proposes for belief. Involuntary doubt refers to hesitation in believing, difficulty in overcoming objections connected with the faith, or also anxiety aroused by its obscurity. If deliberately cultivated doubt can lead to spiritual blindness.”
As they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight. While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them.
They said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky?
This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.”
The message: Get your head out the clouds, much work remains to be done before the Lord comes again. Look down and see Jesus’s footprints, walk in them. It’s not what goes up must come down, rather “the one who went up is still around.”
And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”- Christ can inhabit the baptized believer, body and soul.
Amen.
1. Corr, 2008; Gray, 1982; Gray & McNaughton, 2000), article by Joshua A. Wilt Department of Psychological Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH. in the International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 2017.
2. Koetin, McIntosh, Bridges, & Spilka, 1987). A large (N = 8,500) web-based study (Galek et al., 2007). Department of Psychological Sciences, Case Western Reserve LJniversity, Cleveland, OH, USA; Youngstown State University, Youngstown, OH. The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, January 1, 2017.
3. All illustrations from Sermons.com
