Sunday reflections

Jesus had many meals with his followers. During those times of fellowship, Jesus shared his vision of God’s Kingdom and he called his followers to live, love and serve as one family. Of all their meals together, the one that stayed most in the memory of the disciples was the Last Supper.

“God is love,” says St John in a famous line. There has never been a more radical statement in the history of humanity. To understand its original contrast with the generally accepted accounts of divinity in the ancient world is to grasp afresh its revolutionary quality.

In the Acts of the Apostles, we hear that devout Jews from every nation had gathered in Jerusalem for the feast of Shavuot which commemorated the most important event in Israel’s history, the giving of the Torah (the first five books in the Hebrew Bible) to Moses at Mt Sinai.

Forty days after Easter, when we celebrated Jesus’ resurrection, today we celebrate his ascension into heaven and to the right hand of the Father. Artists throughout the centuries have imagined the scene: the disciples staring upwards as the Risen Jesus is lifted up before them and disappears into the clouds. Their last glimpse of him is his feet as he disappears from sight.

This week’s readings prepare us for Ascension Sunday next week, as they instruct Christians on how to live in the world while we wait for Christ’s return. Although Jesus’ defeat of death has forever transformed what it means to be human, we live in this waiting period where salvation has already been won for us, but not yet fulfilled.

I was once driven by a farmer named John to his farm in country Victoria. It was winter and rather cold. He drove an old farm truck and I was seated on the front passenger side. Our journey took us through green, undulating countryside and through many pastures.

I was once driven by a farmer named John to his farm in country Victoria. It was winter and rather cold. He drove an old farm truck and I was seated on the front passenger side. Our journey took us through green, undulating countryside and through many pastures.

Richard was consumed with grief and shock following his wife’s tragic death. Richard’s doctor suggested a trip to take his mind off his pain; however, the travel and change of scenery didn’t help.  Sadly, while hiking in a national park, Richard climbed a rocky outcrop with the thought of ending his pain.

In the dramatic encounter between Jesus and the disciple Thomas after Jesus’s resurrection, Jesus invites Thomas – who is stricken with doubt – to put his hand into Jesus’ side. It provides a vivid example of how God draws close to us, despite our fears and doubts, when we struggle to find a way forward.

Popular fiction is replete with doomsday stories depicting seers and prophets predicting the end of the world. In such stories, the end comes courtesy of an alien invasion, an ecological disaster, a meteorite collision, or a zombie apocalypse