Fr Marco Lazzaron
his week, instead of focusing on the readings for the 7th Sunday of Easter, I thought to give my reflection on the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord which we celebrated last Thursday.
I’m screwed! These are the first words that came to my mind when I read this Gospel. Jesus says: these are the signs that will accompany those who believe in me: “In my name, they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages, they will take serpents in their hands and, if they drink any poison, it will not harm them; they will lay hands on the sick and they will recover”.
Well then: I have never done exorcisms, I know a little English and Italian and only a few words like “good evening” or “thank you” in other languages, I have never handled snakes (and actually I am terribly afraid of them!), I am sure that if I drink some poison I will die immediately and I don’t think I have ever healed anyone by touching them, not even myself! If these are the signs that demonstrate my faith and that I am saved, then I am really in a bad situation, and Jesus is really asking the impossible of me. Or maybe am I the one misunderstanding?
There is something in this passage that suggests to me that perhaps I should not stop at the surface but better understand what the teaching of Jesus is. The Gospel says that Jesus “was raised up into heaven”, but at the same time “he acted together with them”. Here is the key to understanding Jesus’ words. From the moment Jesus is risen, he enters “inside” the Apostles, and his actions and words become their actions and words. Believing means welcoming Jesus and harmonizing our every choice, gesture, and word with his, just as he acted and spoke.
What at the beginning scared me, now I look at it differently: I too can chase away demons of injustice, racism, exploitation, and power. I can speak new languages when I communicate the Gospel to all with the language of love, knowing that sincere love reaches all, regardless of culture and language. If my heart is inhabited by the Word of God, even the most poisoned human relationships with judgment, malice, and wickedness will not make me die. And I can work miracles of healing when I concretely take care of those who are ill in body and spirit, knowing that a good word can heal the spiritual illnesses in the hearts of my brothers and sisters.
“It’s not so much who you are, but what you do, that qualifies you”, says Rachel Dawes to Bruce Wayne in the film “Batman Begins”. And for us too we can qualify ourselves as believers and Christians not so much by saying it, but by our actions which become like those of Christ.
Jesus is not in heaven, detached from the world and men. By ascending into heaven, Jesus definitively entered the world, into all those who everywhere welcome the Gospel and transform it into life, into extraordinary and possible concrete gestures. In this way, my life is not only saved but becomes capable of salvation for others.