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May 13, 2024Since the first day of the resurrection there was a fascination to locate the body of the Lord. The physical body. Mary Magdalene says to whom she thought was the gardener to tell her where they had taken the body. The disciples rush to the tomb, and Peter enters quickly to see where the body had been. All the disciples were perplexed and wanted to account for his physical body. In the first reading today, it mentions once again the disciples were looking up to sky, as not wanting to lose sight of the physical body of the resurrected Jesus. They had just gotten him back, and now he is parting again. Jesus did not ascend to distance himself, but to pull us toward him, toward heaven where he is seated at the right hand of the Father. And yet the disciples were still clinging to the body, so they needed to be reminded again Jesus was going to come back the same way He went up. His coming back will be as glorious as His ascension into heaven.
Imagine how it will be. It’s exciting to think how His return will take place. Will He appear in a certain part of the world? Will He appear on the same spot He went up while in the presence of the disciples? Will there be a trumpet blast? Will angels appear along with Him? Will all people from all nations be able to witness this event? Or only those closest to the site? Many questions to ask about His arrival, but then the same mistake the disciples did ensues. There is an emphasis on the physical body of the Lord. Yes, the Lord physically rose from the dead. Yes, there is a real historical body of Jesus Christ. But now His presence is different among us. He continues to be truly present in His Body and Blood in the Eucharist. His body is still present among us sacramentally. He continues to be present among us in His body, which is the Church. Jesus is still close to us in a very comforting presence. Yet what people want is to see a physical body, His resurrection is so extra-ordinary they still need proof because they are incredulous. Jesus is still present in the Body of the Church when good works take place, when evangelization takes place, when witnessing on His behalf takes place.
Once in the seminary, a question was asked, “Why did Jesus have to leave? Why couldn’t He stay in His resurrected physical body and constantly appear here and there for reassurance? The response of a wise professor was even a resurrected Jesus would be limited in a physical manner and couldn’t be always at all places. And now thanks to the Ascension, thanks to the action of the Holy Spirit, He can be at every place at once when the Eucharist is celebrated. In addition, His Body, the Church, full of prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers build up the body of Christ while still on this earthly reality. The faithful are the feet and the hands of Jesus. His body becomes so close when the Church exercises Her ministry.
This gospel of Mark does not tell what Matthew says as comforting words, He will be with us until the end of times. But Mark does mention the presence of Jesus among us is confirmed among us through accompanying signs of evangelization. The presence of Jesus among us is not diminished by the ascension, but it is expanded by it. Now, if some would stop obsessing over evidence of the physical body like the early disciples and start to realize He is closer than He has ever been before. There is a little jingle in Spanish that says, “He is with us, and you do not know him, his name is Jesus the Lord.” May we not fail to see Jesus in His full glory among us.
