Ascension of the Lord

Today's Mass Readings

Jesus says to his disciples today, “You are witness to these things.” Jesus’ command is for us today as it was for the disciples then. The greatest challenge to the witnessing in our society and in our time is the privatization of religion. In our society and culture, we have made religion and private individual affair. First of all, whether we go to church each Sunday, at what part of the Mass we come in or at what time we leave the church has become a private decision. For example, as one person told me, we don’t have to go to Church. God is everywhere – in my shower, in my room. Sure God is everywhere, but Christ did not ask us to keep God in the private realms of life. He calls us as a community and sends us as witnesses as a sommunity. And the moment witnessing stops, the church will die.

Secondly, our witnessing to Christ in our ordinary lives (at work, during vacation, at school, or at social functions) has become a private affair. For example, we talk about sports or politics at work, or the sales in the city, or the movie we saw. How much do we talk about what God has done for us? It seems to me that every other realm of life is public, but religion is private. It is almost a shame to talk about it. The danger of this is that we cease to be challenged by our faith. We do not grow anymore in our faith. On the other hand if we do witness to our faith, we are constantly challenged by the people around us to live what we believe.

Thirdly, parents could witness to their children. For example, many a times parents take children to baseball coaching, football coaching, and dance lessons. Yet sometimes they are slow in coaching them in reading scripture, or learning prayers. Let us hope that many of our children can find in us real witness of the love, the forgiveness, the compassion, the commitment of Christ.

Witnessing is crucial or our own growth and the growth of Christianity. When we relegate religion to the private realm, we rob Christianity of its power. And so Christ reminds us, “You are witnesses of these things.”

- Fr. Satish Joseph