THE FEAST OF ASCENSION: Act 1:1-11
Is religion the opium of the people?
There are people who see religion as evil, accusing it of promoting obscurantism and robbing people of their right to make their own destiny. According to marxist teaching, "Religion is the opium of the people". For all those who based their political ideology in the marxist theory, this statement sounds like a truth beyond any doubt, being repeated at any moment. In the communist countries, it was part of the daily menu of attack on religion. I remember that, in Mozambique, during the first years of independence, religion was dismissed as a backward force and as an obstruction to development, promoting the submission of the poor and filling them with false hopes.
However, such a picture of the Christian faith is very much one-sided and far from the historical truth. Any serious historian, even the unbelievers, recognises that, through most of the centuries of Christian presence, the faith in Jesus Christ has been a source of inspiration, promoting culture and leading to enlightenment.
Nowadays, the atheist communist ideology has been substituted by a prevalent wave of materialism and hedonism, which dismisses religion and God altogether as empty and useless talk. Religion and God may have a hidden place in the privacy of one's live, but they should not be allowed to play a detrimental public role in society.
Jesus’ last message
The first reading on the Ascension Sunday gives us some insights about the true dimension of the Christian faith and of its role in society.
As Jesus was giving his last instructions, the disciples asked about the restoration of the kingdom of Israel. Jesus answered, as he had answered before, that he had nothing to do with that. He did not come for political power, and his Church should not get political power. That is not the mission he entrusted to the Church. And we can say that history passes a harsh judgement on those times when the Church was deeply involved in politics, having her own state.
Power and wealth are not the values by which the Church should be guided. They are great values for the people of the world, to which some dedicate their lives with all their mind and their heart. Power and wealth do not bring true happiness and peace, but are a constant source of struggles, fights and wars.
To the Church, Jesus gave the mission of being his witness, by word and by deeds. And in order to be true witnesses, Jesus sent upon his disciples the Holy Spirit. We must be witnesses of God's merciful love, shown to us in Jesus Christ.
Why are you looking into the sky?
As Jesus disappeared from the eyes of his disciples, we are presented with a last scene. They remained there in ecstasy, looking up to heaven, as if they were going to be taken up as well. However, two men dressed in white came to question them: "Why are you standing here looking into the sky?" They were turned back to this world in which we live. They assured them that Christ will come again, but we must prepare for his return (Second Coming), by turning our eyes and our hands to this world in which we live.
Surely, we need an experience of the risen Lord, and we must live in expectation, ready for his coming. But this expectation leads us to work hard for the Kingdom of God, so that God's glory may be felt present among us. We were given the task of being witnesses and of proclaiming the Good News.
As our feet are still here on earth, our eyes cannot look only to heaven and loose sight of the reality in which we live.
Our Christian faith is not a drug that keeps us dreaming and completely out of touch with the reality that surrounds us; instead it demands a commitment to work hard for the Kingdom of God, being like the yeast that transform the whole dow. If we look up to heaven and contemplate Christ is to turn back with renewed strength, committing ourselves to the transformation of this world, illumined and guided by the light received from Jesus Christ.
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