People call me “four eyes” because I have to wear spectacles to correct my myopia. The point I want to make is that, whether we use spectacles or not, we all “use” some form of viewing device that allows us to see and judge the world. These are philosophical assumptions we make in order to function and interact with people and with the world. The challenge arises when our assumptions prevent us from seeing beyond the visible or the tangible or the accepted. For example, this country is organised along certain assumptions. Without enumerating some of the more glaring “misconceptions”, one of the assumptions is to assume that “Allah” is a word whose use should be restricted to a particular religion. Stupid or asinine as that may be, it is often an arduous and demanding task to challenge people’s assumption. But it is not impossible.The Ascension challenges one of the main assumptions we have of life. In a mediaeval presentation of the Ascension, we can only see the feet of Christ hanging beneath the clouds. This depiction challenges us our unquestioned assumptions about the world. Christ being swallowed by the cloud signifies the existence which He is ascending to. Only His feet visible to the Apostles and Mary strongly remind us of our shared destiny with him. St Paul clearly says so in the 2nd Reading—May he enlighten the eyes of your mind so that you can see what hope his call holds for you, what rich glories he has promised the saints will inherit and how infinitely great is the power that he has exercised for us believers. This you can tell from the strength of his power at work in Christ, when he used it to raise him from the dead and to make him sit at his right hand.
So, we are challenged to look beyond this world to the destiny which we are to share with Christ—to be at the right hand of God our Father. Thus, this world can only be a place of temporary refuge; a world of passage and not a world of permanence. But, myopic as we are, unfortunately, we are sometimes caught by the assumption that this is the only life there is. When asked if he was prepared for death, a terminally-ill patient replied, “Yes, I am. I have made my will”.
Preparation for death is more than making a will. Making sure that your worldly business is settled is important but, a simple Catholic preparation for death is to ensure that one has at least gone for confession and received viaticum before dying. Preparation for death is, if you like, living as if today would be the last day of one’s life. Many movies, in a situation of near death, like moments before a plane crashes, will depict people as making the sign of the cross, quickly grappling with the rosary or mumbling some prayers. This is perhaps a backhanded acknowledgement of a life beyond life but, by and large, movies of great catastrophe do not show people thinking beyond death or beyond this world. Often there is no mention of God or mention of regret for a life poorly lived. Instead, regrets would be for the good things we never had. This is not a sad reflexion of movie portrayals as it is a sad reflexion of our assumption... that eternal life cannot be better than this life. This perhaps explains why we cling to dear life.
Preparation for death is broadly covered in the 2nd Reading as it is confirmed in the Gospel. In the 2nd Reading it says: He has put all things under his feet, and made him as the ruler of everything, the head of the Church; which is his body, the fullness of him who fills the whole of creation. Our preparation for death means that we want to come under the reign of Christ in everything we say and do—in word and in action. But, we all know it is not easy because we experience how difficult it is when we sometimes allow Christ to enter only a part of our life, to inhabit a part of our heart.
Here is where the Gospel is encouraging. The Eleven disciples set out for Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had arranged to meet them. When they saw him they fell down before him, though some hesitated.
Do not lose courage because preparation for death is a life-long process. There will always be hesitation amongst those who claim to follow Christ. There will always be some who believe in a half-hearted manner. When we limit Christ’s authority in our lives, when we pick and choose the parts of His teachings we like and quietly ignore what we are not comfortable with, then we have believed him half-heartedly [1].
Yet, Christ is not daunted by our half-hearted faith as He confidently commissioned the Apostles: Go, therefore make disciples of all the nations; baptise them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you. We often think that the command to teach as “ad extra”... that is, it deals with “evangelisation” or as bringing the Good News to the whole world. But the phrase “preparation for death” clarifies and also ties our understanding of evangelisation to a holistic existence. The mission ad extra, that is, of bringing the Gospel to other begins ad intra, that is, within us, that one’s entire life is preparation for death and only then is it also evangelical because one’s life is the very first Gospel that people will read even before they hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The 1st Reading gives us great hope because Christ told the Apostles: not many days from now, you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit makes the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ. The same Holy Spirit given at Pentecost is the one who will accompany us in this life-long preparation for death; this life-long preparation to enter heaven. Shall we not ask His help?
FOOTNOTES:
[1] The way to know Christ is through Prayer, Scripture and His teachings in the Church. This is why discernment is an important aspect of our preparation. Prayer, Scripture and Church teachings help us in the process of discernment. An important note is that when we accept parts of His teachings and reject parts of it by claiming that the Church cannot and does not know how to teach, it is to doubt not so much the Church but really to doubt Christ’s ability to teach, even through a Church which is made up of fallible human beings. That is why He assures us, “know that I am with you always, yes, to the end of time”. He intends to keep this promise despite ourselves. So, even though our rejection of certain Church teachings does seem like a crisis of faith in the Church’s teaching ability, it is in fact, a crisis of faith in Christ Himself.
