The Love of His Goodbye - Reflection Ascension Sunday

Readings

This weekend, my family celebrated the marriage of my niece at a reception held in honor of the newlywed couple. As family came together, I saw love that is family. I saw those who have experienced love in a real and broken world.

Earlier in the week, I had asked my grandson if he knew what love is and he gave me a good answer for 5 year old. “Love is I love my mommy and my brother and you pop. “

Since we were talking about telling the truth, I explained that love was a forever truth. I explained to love someone is a promise of always wanting and giving what is good for another person. It was always important to tell the truth because telling a fib was not giving what is good.

I explained that my love for him is the promise of wanting and giving all I have that is good to him and his brother. Loving him is also the promise of wanting and giving all that is good to his mother and his grandmother and his great-grandparents.

I finished with the fact that love is keeping that promise to one another. That is the way Jesus’ loved us.

At the reception, I thought about this talk with my grandson and how hard love is to really give; because in the real everyday life where we exist face to face with other persons, there is always going to be the fact of our frailties and failures in this world.   

Even for love, they present obstacles in every relationship. Frailties and failures in us that are obstacles placed in relationships. These are things like resistance, disappointment, and irritation or a fear of not being understood or valued. It is the wound that springs from our humanity. It is the wound in our ability to love one another that the world rubs salt into.

I hope that Elliot and Callie’s love is a promise of wanting and giving all that is good. Living in this world, I hope it is a love that is forgiving, true, and truthful.

That promise of wanting and giving all that is good is Jesus’ love for us.

He gave us that in the love of his good bye.

The love of these words, “I am sending the promise of my Father upon you….”  A promise made wanting and giving all that is good,  the Holy Spirit, the power from on high; God within us.

And in that good bye, the apostles loved. They promised all that is good for him by giving him homage, returning to Jerusalem with great joy, and continually praising God.”

At his time in our world when the idea of love has become scandalous, and  the world puts forth the concept that abortion is love and somehow acceptable to God, we must love. Realize as believers, we have been given power from on high: the Holy Spirit, God within us.

Give him homage and with great joy continually praise God. With that power from on high love one another in the promise of wanting and giving all I have that is good.

People of God, why are you standing there looking at the sky?

Be good, be holy and preach the gospel by the way you live and love one another. Amen.