For a long time, I did not understand the value of this celebration. I got that Jesus went to Heaven, and I know that He is my Savior and the Son of God and all of that. But at the end of the day, I didn't entirely relate to the story. I didn't see why it was important to me as a young adult in the 21st century.
Then a priest pointed out an interesting part of the readings. After Jesus had left them and risen, the disciples were still standing in the same place. Then two angels came to them and said,
They said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.” ~Acts 1:11
Put yourself in the sandals of the Disciples. Their best friend, the leader of the pack, the greatest man that ever walked the Earth, had just left them. He died already, and they had locked themselves away for three days as they mourned the loss of their friend. As we all know, He came back, and to the Apostles, this must have been the greatest moment of their lives. Even though Jesus said He was going to leave, I could imagine that none of them expected Jesus to leave after only forty days. I mean, if I were them, I would have believed that life was going back to what it used to be, or as close as it could have become.
But Jesus leaves them again.
So when the Angels come and ask them why they are looking up at the sky, I would assume that some of the Apostles would have been a little bit hurt. Maybe some were trying to keep their manhood and avoid shedding a tear. They don't want to go back to the scary world where everyone wants to kill them and they don't know what to do. They want their teacher, their God in their midst again. They want the guy who can throw tables, cure sick people, and remind them of how to live.
The Angels, who deliver the message of God, remind them that they can't just go back to their old ways. Because Jesus has died and risen again, life has to change. This is how we relate to the Gospel. Because Christ is living and moving in us, we have to change. We can never just sit in the same place forever.
As I have probably stated somewhere else, I am a highly sentimental person. I can recite entire conversations that I had with people in my freshman year of college. I can look at a random pole and remember something that happened there. And when it comes to being comfortable where I am, I practically live to keep things the same. I don't want to be a big person. I don't want change. After all, the past is so beautiful right?
For the majority of move out, I was saying to myself, "Can I be a freshman again for just one more minute?" The prospect of being a senior in a new residence hall and figuring out her future was just too unnerving for the highly nostalgic and sentimental girl I was.
Last night I had the pleasure of attending the baccalaureate Mass for my little brother's high school graduation. They had their class speakers then, and each one of them pointed out how much had changed, yet how little they noticed the time pass by. As I looked down at the crowd, and then at my own hands, I realized the same thing had been happening to me. I was not the same person I was when I first moved in to Patton Hall, and I had become less and less of a freshman with each minute I spent in college.
So no, I could not be a freshman for one more minute.
Instead, I could be more me each minute.
The Apostles represent our greatest fear: change in the unknown. Because they had Jesus guiding them for three years, the Apostles had someone to directly tell them what to do. Now they had to listen to the Holy Spirit, who is much more difficult to hear. But they had to do it in order to spread the Gospel. We too have to move from an obvious and understandable path to one that we are unclear on.
This is ok. Change is good.
You don't need that extra minute
You just need faith that God will take you where you need to go.
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