All partings are difficult. It is never easy to say goodbye. The time also came for Jesus, risen from the dead, to return to heaven from earth. As we heard in today’s Gospel, Jesus took his seat at the right hand of the Father. Jesus completed his mission on earth and returned to his Father again. But this was not in fact the end of Jesus’ mission because before he ascended, he entrusted his mission to the Church. At the end of Mark’s Gospel, Jesus commanded the apostles, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to all creation.” So the Church, through its bishops who are the successors of the Apostles, and its priests who are the bishops’ assistants, continues what Jesus began. Jesus is present in the Church and continues his ministry in and through the Church.
Jesus equips his Church to continue his work by giving different gifts to different members of the Church. What is the gift Jesus gave to you to use for the Church? He has surely given you a gift to be used for the benefit of all of us here. We should strive to let the whole world see that the Church, that our parish, is the place where Jesus continues to be present after His ascension.
Let us pray that the Church will more and more become what Jesus calls it to be that all may come to find Jesus.