He Remains With Us

“Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God,
God remains in him and he in God.
We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us.
God is love, and whoever remains in love
remains in God and God in him.”

1 John 4:15-16

First published as “Jesus Did Not Leave” on May 21, 2023.

In many parts of the country, the Church celebrates the Ascension of Our Lord on the Seventh Sunday of Easter. Usually on Ascension Thursday or in many places the Sunday following the Ascension, we celebrate the day Jesus ascended into Heaven, returning to the Father to prepare a place for us all in His Father’s house. It is important to note that Jesus ascended into Heaven and yes, He returned to the Father, but He did not leave us.

After His Resurrection, Jesus stayed on earth for another 40 days, appearing to His disciples, perhaps preparing them for His ascension by reminding them of all He had taught them and encouraging them to keep the faith. When the 40 days came to an end, He ascended into Heaven but assured the disciples that, “I am with you always” even until the end of the world. So, did Jesus contradict Himself when He said this? His actions certainly did not match His words. How can He say He is with us always when He is literally going up into the sky? But we know that there can be no contradiction. There must be something deeper. There must be a more profound reality and truth here.

If Jesus said He remains with us always then He must mean it. Perhaps not in the same way He has been with the disciples, but a presence nonetheless. Jesus had promised to send the Holy Spirit (and, we celebrate this on Pentecost Sunday, next week!). The Holy Spirit is who remains with us and who makes Jesus present to us. For Catholics, at the Mass, it is the Holy Spirit who makes Jesus present in the Eucharist. For the baptized, we have received the Holy Spirit, and so Jesus remains with us always. So, when Jesus ascended into Heaven, He did not leave us, in fact, He remained with us in a way that is most personal — in our hearts, in our beings, and in our minds. Jesus is present in the Sacraments and so whenever we receive the Sacraments we experience a personal encounter with the Lord.

We can also understand this on a more human level. When we are away from our loved ones, we know they are still present in our lives. We can call them and write to them. Physical distance does not diminish their presence in our lives. Even when loved ones pass from this world, their presence does not diminish. If we truly believe in eternal life and in the Communion of Saints, then our deceased loved ones are present to us in a much realer way than ever before. We pray for them and they pray for us. We are bound together in faith and by the Holy Spirit. So, the same Jesus who died on the Cross, is the same Jesus who ascended into Heaven, and He is the same Jesus who remains with us today. Never doubt that Jesus is with you. Close your eyes and call out to Him. He is there. Go frequent the Sacraments — He is there. Kneel before the Blessed Sacrament — He is there. Look at your family and friends — He is there.

No, when Jesus ascended into Heaven He did not leave us, He chose to remain with us in a way that He could not before. He is here with us, right here, right now.

Watch this week’s reflection below.

Chosen to Bear Fruit

“It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.”

John 15:16

At the Last Supper Jesus gave to the disciples a new commandment, the mandatum, to love one another as He has loved them. And how has Jesus loved them? Completely, fully, unconditionally, and unreservedly. We are called to love likewise. Although we cannot truly in the same way Jesus did because of our human nature, we can strive to do so, and we have hope that we can because it was the Lord who has appointed us to do so. We have been chosen, but will we accept it?

Brothers and sisters, we have been chosen. We were created in the image and likeness of God. We were created in love, for love. The Father has called us by name and the Lord has chosen us, each one of us, to be His hands and feet here on earth. We have been asked to bear fruit, fruit that will remain. The only things that truly remain are that which are eternal, that which are from God. What is this fruit then that remains? His love. His very life, that which He gave up so that we might live and die no more. Jesus assumed our humanity so that we might come to share in His divinity. He came so that we might have life eternal, life that remains. And the life (essence and nature) of God is love. To live a Christian life is to live in love, in love with God, and in love for others.

We have been called and appointed by the Lord but we must choose to answer the call. We must choose to love. We must choose to remain in God and in His love. The only way we can truly live out a life of love is if we remain in Christ. Only when we graft ourselves onto Jesus will we be able to bear any fruit. Only when we allow ourselves to be loved will we be able to love others. We cannot bear fruit if we have not first been planted. Furthermore, we cannot bear fruit that remains unless we are pruned. Through all this the Lord will be with us. He will give us the graces we need to do so. However, we must remain in Him and with Him, the source of our life and love. What seems impossible for us to accomplish will be possible if we remain in the One who has chosen us and appointed us because for nothing is impossible for Him who has called us.

Fruit of the Spirit

“Let us love not in word or speech
but in deed and truth.”

1 John 3:18

Jesus speaks to the intimate relationship that exists between Him and His followers using the imagery of vine and branches. Just as the branches can only exist and grow only if they remain grafted onto the vine, so too, the extent to which the followers of Christ are true followers depend on their dependence on the Lord. The vine is the source of life for the branches. Jesus ought to be the source of our life and all that we do, but is He? How do we know? The answer may lie in the fruit that we bear.

St. John encourages us to not simply love with our words; in other words, do not just pay lip service. We ought not to simply say, “I love the Lord” or “I love my brothers and sisters,” but rather to show it. We cannot say “I love the Lord” and do things that do not show this. We cannot say we love the Lord and deny life to the unborn or neglect the poor and the hungry. We cannot love the Lord and hate our neighbor. We cannot profess to know the Lord when we do not pray or spend time with Him. The fruit of our “love” will show if our live is true. The fruit in our lives will show whether we are grafted onto the True Vine that is Christ or the vine of the world.

We must live in the Truth and love with our whole beings, feeding the poor, clothing the naked, instructing the ignorant, visiting the imprisoned, and caring for orphans and widows. The Lord took on our human flesh so that we might share in His divinity, partaking in the communal life of the Trinity, partaking in love eternal.

Let us today examine our lives and reflect on the kinds of fruit we have borne. Do they reflect the Father’s love? Do they reflect our own ambitions? If we truly remain in the Lord, the Spirit will dwell within us, and the fruit we bear will lead us to God. The fruit of the Spirit is love and peace. Let us choose to remain in the Lord today and to be grafted onto to Christ so that all that we think, say, and do might reveal to ourselves and others the love that moved the Lord to the Cross.

Click below the watch this week’s reflection.