Readings: Acts 1:1-11; Responsorial Psalm Ps 47:2-3,6-7,8-9; Ephesians 1:17-23, 22-23 Or Hebrews 9:24-28,10:19-23; Gospel Luke 24:46-53.
Theme: Ascension: The Power of Goodbye
"Goodbye's the saddest word I'll ever hear. Goodbye's the last time I will hold you near. Someday you'll say that word and I will cry. It'll break my heart to hear you say goodbye" - Celine Dion
The opening statement above from the lyrics of the timeless "Goodbye's (the Saddest Word)" by the queen of R and B, Celine Dion brings to the fore the power of goodbye.
Perhaps a list of scenarios would help us to better understand the power that lies in the words "Good-Bye."
1. A child leaves home for school: I recall leaving home at the age of 12 for the Minor Seminary in Barkin Ladi. It was an emotional moment because that was the first time I was going to be away from friends and family for six years. Even the promise of periodic holidays could not stop the tears from flowing. The fact that I was going to miss home food and meet seniors who might use the whip when necessary did not also help matters. Today, all that is history.
2. Call to the priestly or religious life: No one who puts the plough on the ground and looks back is worthy of the kingdom (Lk 9:62). However, for many of us who took to the priestly or religious life, the decision to say goodbye to friends and family was an uphill task. At some point, those who could not endure had to back out.
3. A young man or woman separates from his or her own family to settle down: At the instance of the scriptural command, marriage makes people separate from their families to start a new life (Eph 5:31). It is often not easy for a young woman to say goodbye to her biological family which nursed, suckled and educated her. The tears of wedding nights tell the story more.
4. A breadwinner goes in search of greener pastures: Call it brain drain or search for greener pastures, people have had to say goodbye to their spouses and kids for the sake of more money, professionalism or both. Such goodbyes especially for those who would have to travel abroad, go with intense outbursts as relations are often unsure of the outcome.
Nollywood has helped us to appreciate the power of goodbye because in a typical Nigerian movie, Osuofia will gather his relations and tell them he will leave for the city or abroad. Osuofia in London is a case in point.
Why are goodbyes intense moments? What is in a goodbye? Well, a lot of things are involved in saying farewell some of which are:
1. Sadness: Often times, when a person says goodbye, the person is saddened because he/she will miss an environment he/she is familiar with. His/her friends and family are also often not happy because they would miss a father, mother, bother, sister, friend, college or confidant.
2. Confusion: Because we are often not sure of a new home or environment, parting from a terrain we know very well comes with confusion. "Should I go or not?" is usually the question that remains unasnwered.
3. Uncertainty: Uncertainty, like confusion puts those who must say bye-bye in a state of "I am not sure of what will happen to me or the family I am leaving behind.".
4. Excitement: Surprisingly, others say or receive goodbye with excitement. That is what happened on the day of the Lord's ascension into heaven. The gospel relates that the apostles were excited after the Lord was taken into heaven. Why were they excited?
1. He is going to his father and their father: In his last discourse with the apostles before he died, he had assured them that he is going to his father and their father (John 20:16-18). This is certainly a cause of joy. 2. He is going to prepare a place for them: The Master had made it abundantly clear that he is going to prepare a place for them so that he is going, they too may go (Jn 14:3). He would insist: "In my father's house there are many mansions. If there were not, I would have told you..." (Jn 14:2).
The land of milk and honey (Deut. 26:15) which no eyes have seen (1 Cor. 2:9 ). No one would like to miss that. Who can resist this excitement?
3. He is going to leave them the advocate: Knowing that he was leaving them physically, Jesus promised the apostles the counsellor, the spirit of truth which will lead them to the complete truth as the first reading form the Acts of the Apostles and the second reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Ephesians relate. That promise was to be fulfilled on the day of pentecost. Nothing could be sweeter.
Jesus' goodbye was magnetic, if not magical. This is because his goodbye to the apostles on the day of ascension had the power of lifting the eyes of the apostles from the school of life to the school of the after-life. In life, there are two schools:
a) The School of life: it comprises of primary, secondary and tertiary levels of education as well as the school of philosophic-sagacity or experiential knowledge.
b) The School of after-life: This is what obtains in the spiritual realm which the apostles experienced on the day the Lord went up to heaven. This school is characterised by lifting our minds to heaven where God is; pursuing virtue and mortification to achieve spiritual credits.
What then are the lessons of Ascension Thursday?
1. Goodbyes may bring temporal sadness and gloom but in the long run, they are for our own good.
2. Jesus' goodbye was meant for our edification since the Holy Spirit is still with us.
3. Just as Jesus went up to draw us up to the father, we must seek ways of helping others to grow spiritually, intellectually and materially too.
4. It gives us hope to bear with the encumbrances of this life as a better life awaits us in the hereafter.
5. It better positions us to propagate the faith in word and deed until the Lord returns.
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