When we gather to celebrate Ascension Day, we remember, in the most simple way, that Jesus returns home to be the family of the Trinity. After Resurrection Jesus re-connected with his friends and that friendship deepened and developed as the weeks passed. In the lockdown of the Upper Room, Jesus helped his disciples to move on from their grief and hurt to see the hope, encouragement, and light that only he could bring. We know from our own experience of friendship that there are times of intense joy, but there are also challenges that can either build or break our relationships. We are all walking on a wonderful Camino through life and people come and go—some make a deep impact and others help us for a while and move on. As we reflect on Ascension, we see that Jesus has to say farewell to his closest friends and allow them to move forward. In life this is sometimes the hardest thing we can do: to say goodbye and so help our friends to move on. No matter how deep the friendship and how special we feel it makes us and how important we think we are in their lives, we need to allow others to grow and develop. No matter how hard and heart-breaking it can be, we have to make that brave decision to say goodbye. You may have hundreds of 'friends' on Facebook, but with a flick of a switch you can 'unfriend' them! In the real world of interpersonal relationships, it is not that easy. Real friends will always be there for you and, I suspect, the days of lockdown showed you who your real friends are—even though you were not physically able to be with them. In leaving for home, Jesus is giving us a dramatic and lasting statement of what true friendship is all about: for the depth of your friendship, you sometimes have to let go. In Ascension, Jesus is 'unfriending' no one; rather he is giving them permission to move forward as they await for the arrival of another friend and the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

I love the energy and music of the Tuam based 'Saw Doctors.' They have an amazing song called 'I'll be on my Way'; it tells the tale of that need to move on and not stay still. The Christian community invites us to a dynamic life-even a global pandemic has not destroyed our sense of community; if anything, Covid-19 has strengthened a sense of who we all are on this great adventure of life:

Slan leat anois mo stor
There's no need to see me to me door
We'll meet again I hope and pray
Now I'll be on my way
We'll meet again I hope and pray
Now I'll be on my way. (Leo Moran and Davey Carlton)

This time is perhaps a good time to remember friends and those you may have lost contact with during the pandemic. Some friends will willingly welcome that opportunity, while others not so much! Covid has seen us lose friends that we thought we had forever. They have given us much but, now they are on their way and perhaps you might never connect with them again—at least in this life. However, you can never forget that you may well be a special friend too in the life of another. You have made a positive difference too. The 'Saw Doctors' sum up this 'positive farewell', as they urge us to live life to the maximum in Resurrection joy:

Don't be sad now when I'm gone
Take your time while you're still
Young
In the warm sunshine make hay
Now I'll be on my way
Where I'm going, I don't know
But I'm heading off in sun
Rain hail or snow
In the yard I hear the children play
Now I'll be on my way (Leo Moran & Davey Carlton)

As we read the Ascension account in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 1:6-11), the angels tell the disciples to stop looking into the sky and get on with life. Like Peter, James and John coming down from the Mount of Transfiguration, they need their eyes firmly placed on the road ahead—looking nostalgically and wistfully up into the sky will get them nowhere. They are called to return and wait in vigil with Mary in the supportive atmosphere of their unique lockdown. In their sacred space, they wait for the gift of friendship with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. I hope that our own lockdown experiences will see a similar outpouring of the Spirit in our lives as we move towards a new vision of normality. Ascension Day is not the end; it is not a final, once and for all 'goodbye.' It is a universal call to stop daydreaming by looking up to the skies. It is a call to be united fully with the Eucharistic People, the Body of Christ through word and action, as Malcolm Guite reminds us:

We saw his light break through the cloud of glory
Whilst we were rooted still in time and place
As earth became a part of Heaven's story
And heaven opened to his human face.
We saw him go and yet we were not parted
He took us with him to the heart of things.

Author: Fr Gerry O'Shaughnessy SDB

Image: Photo by Dmitry Limonov on Unsplash