[__01__] To
be continued. To be continued, this is
good news.
Luke the evangelist,
the author of the Acts of the Apostles, continues the Good News of our
salvation…. The Good News which had concluded with the Ascension of our Savior.
This Good News – the
mission of the Apostles – continues in Part 2, “Acts of the Apostles.”
It is Good News to be
continued.
[__02__] Here at Bergen Catholic, we learn – through
both our faith and our academics – that you and I are being continued.
We learn about our human
potential – in terms of academics,
friendships, agility / competition, music, …
You and I are works in
progress.
To be continued is
Good News.
[__03__] At
times, we also find continuity – and consistency – to be a comfort and a
motivation.
For example, consider
what happens when we take an examination, a midterm …and we have to wait a
while for the grade or the result.
Instead of our life being
a very smooth line … we become the discontinuous function… wondering what the
grade is… and unwilling to learn MORE until we know what just happened on the
midterm …and whether or not there will be extra points, a curve, etc.
Isn’t our life also
made smoother and more continous through positive results? If we were to win on the playing field, some
of us would find it much easier to go to practice than if we had lost.
I want coach to tell
me what I did well. We associate “continuity” with victory.
Also, the first
disciples – witnessing the Passion of Good Friday would had some trouble
connecting the dots to Easter Sunday. Thomas the Apostle, famously, wants physical
proof.
The Resurrection does
not seem possible. The disciples, at first, only see the discontinuity of Good
Friday… rather than the continuity of
Easter Sunday .
[__04__]
Some of has have, of course, experienced, real and tragic physical
disruption, defeat and discontinuity in our lives.
We experience this,
for example, through the death of a loved one, the illness or crisis of a loved
one - child, mother, father, brother,
sister, friend or family.
We share, then, in the
doubts and disconnections of the early disciples.
We also feel
disconnected – deprived – in our grief and mourning in such an experience of
loss or death.
Similarly, physical
separation may cause this. We do not
want to be away from loved ones.
[__05__] The disciples – at the time of the
Ascension – are also experiencing this disruption and some disconnection.
Jesus wants to heal
this division, this disconnect, sending the Holy Spirit. But, there will be some
discontinuity.
There will be some
disagreements among the disciples themselves about their mission.
[__06__] To be continued – Good News, but
challenging news
[__07__] In the Ascension, our Savior is teaching us and challenging us to
recall that while death takes us from the earth – and from our families – death
does not remove us from God’s presence.
Also, through the
Ascension, Jesus reminds us that he is present to us in our difficulties.
This could be death or
illness.
Also, this difficulty
could be sinfulness, injustice, brokenness.
If we have sinned – or someone has sinned against us – we remain loved
by God.
[__08__] We were brought into this world by God’s
love. And, we are sustained by God’s love.
[__09__] When
we confess our sins, equally, we are not simply learning what evil or injustice
to avoid in the future.
Yes, we do learn this.
But, we also learn how
to be free – how to follow God’s will – and to desire God’s will – joyfully …
even as we gradually grow closer to him. We are works in progress, growing and
changing through God’s mercy.
[__10__]
This is the Good News of the Resurrection, for you and me, to be
continued.
[__fin__]
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