Vatican II at 50 - Ascension and Mother's Day
Very few of us still wear a corsage on Mother’s Day. When I was a kid I remember going to church
on this day with my red corsage and seeing a myriad of women and children
wearing either a red or white flower.
Red meant your mother was still living.
White meant she had passed. It
has now been many years since my mother passed away. But, I still feel her presence whenever I follow
in her footsteps and do what she would do: cook one of her recipes, go places that she
and I frequented together, spend time with other family members, send thank-you
notes, or plant flowers in the spring.
Ironically, I can sense my mother’s spirit now more than when she was
alive.
In the same fashion we celebrate the Solemnity of the
Ascension of the Lord. Jesus is no longer
physically with us, but his Spirit is always with us, and we can feel his
presence whenever we follow in his footsteps and do what he would do: spend time in prayer, feed the hungry, befriend
the outcast, stand up for justice and spread the news of God’s love.
Today’s Gospel sends us on a mission to bear Christ’s love
to the world. The final act in each
liturgy does the same. Prior to the
Second Vatican Council when the Mass was in Latin, the parting words were Ite, Missa est, meaning “Go, you are
sent.” Today’s dismissals are a little
more specific: “Go and announce the
Gospel of the Lord.” They echo the
Vatican II document Ad Gentes, the
Decree on the Missionary Activity of the Church, which calls all lay persons to
participate in the missionary work of the church:
Their
main duty, whether they are men or women, is the witness which they are bound
to bear to Christ by their life and works in the home, in their social milieu,
and in their own professional circle. #21
