I was sad to hear how a student at a prestigious local college had taken his life because he failed an academic examination. It made me recall the many times people had chosen to end their lives because of things such as failure to secure a visa to go abroad, a loss of job, a breakup in a relationship, financial difficulties, terminal sickness, or any other stressful situation. There are countless reasons why people choose to give up in this life or choose to give up in their commitments to God and others. But I believe that in this age of unlimited knowledge about the sciences and art, where we tend to be experts in all fields of our endeavors, there are certain truths that we do not know as well as we should.
We give up because there are three things that we do not know deeply and hold on to with conviction.
Firstly, we do not know who we are in the eyes of God. We do not know that we are God’s beloved children no matter what we do or experience in this life. We are always precious to Him in every second of our lives here on earth and in eternity. Our experiences, conditions, or situations do not and cannot diminish our identity before God.
Before Jesus ascended into heaven, He said to His disciples, “I am sending the promise of my Father upon you, but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high” (Lk. 24:49). The promise of the Father is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of love between the Father and the Son. By possessing His Spirit, we are always in God’s loving embrace no matter our failures, sicknesses, setbacks, defects, struggles, or trials.
When we do not have this first truth deep in our hearts and minds, we look to the world to tell us who we are. We search for our sense of identity in our performance in academics, work, or elsewhere. We depend on others to tell us who we are, no matter how biased they may be against us. We act as if our personal worth comes from our bank accounts, academic degrees, public opinion, or even position in Church. We will surely give up in this life when we are not grounded in our identity as God’s beloved children in Jesus Christ.
Secondly, we do not know the power of God that is in us. Like many of us, the disciples were seeking for more information from Jesus on how to overcome Roman rule. You can perceive the nationalistic drive in their question to Jesus, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” Jesus does not give them more information, but simply highlights the power that the Spirit will give them to be His faithful witnesses in every place and time, saying, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:1-11).
Jesus offers us the power that we need to do what He did, endure what He endured, and overcome what He overcame. This power is not wishful thinking—Jesus promised us this sort of power when He ascended: “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go the Father” (Jn. 14:12).
Because of the Ascension and Pentecost, we have in us that divine power to face and overcome temptations, to make God better known and loved, to endure pain, hardship, persecution, betrayal, abandonment, rejection, suffering, and death. We can face visible failure and triumph over it like Jesus triumphed over the seeming defeat on the cross. In short, we who believe in the Lord’s Ascension and the arrival of the Holy Spirit to the Church are not meant to be wimps in this life. When we are ignorant of this power within us, we allow the hardships and failures of life to overcome us.
Lastly, we do not know our eternal destiny is life with God in heaven. We live as pilgrims in transit in this world. It is so easy for us to forget that this world is not our ultimate home but a place of preparation for eternity. St. Paul prayed that the Ephesians may have a deep knowledge of God’s constant calling to heavenly glory:
May the eyes of your heart be enlightened that you may know what is the hope that belongs to His call, what are the riches of glory in His inheritance among the holy ones, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power for us who believe in accord with the exercise of His great might which He worked in Christ, raising Him from the dead and seating Him at His right hand in the heavens. (Eph. 1:17-23)
The Ascension of the Lord Jesus has gained for us God’s constant calling to heaven, immense power for this journey home, unimaginable glory for us in heaven, and an unshakable hope. It is indeed true that the ascending Christ “gave gifts to men” (Eph. 4:8).
Sadly, we give up in life simply because we are ignorant of these amazing gifts that come with our eternal destiny. We cannot overcome anything in this life when we are bent on preserving and enjoying the present life without any thought for eternity.
The Ascension of Jesus is the ultimate victory of Christ. He lived in this world in our human nature, and He overcame all that this world placed in His path. He triumphed over all in our humanity because He always knew that He was the Father’s truly beloved Son, He knew the power of the Spirit within Him, and that He was going back to the Father through His death and resurrection.
The Ascension is also our own victory. We are the body of Christ, and we must follow the same path that Christ our Head has followed to glory. He even warned us of the many hardships and challenges we will face that will continually tempt us to give up on life or on our commitments. But He asks us to keep our eyes on Him always because we never walk this life alone; “In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (Jn. 16:33).
Our exalted Head, Jesus Christ, also intimately unites Himself with us in the Eucharist. Because of the Eucharist, our bond with Him is even closer than when He walked this earth. Life will be hard as usual, and it will be short as usual too. We may never understand why things happen to us or how we are going to overcome them. But if we never forget who we are in the eyes of God, the power of God that we have within us, and our eternal destiny to be with Him, there is no way that we will ever give up in this life.
Glory to Jesus!!! Honor to Mary!!!
Photo by Jonathan Mabey on Unsplash
