But What if I have Doubts?
- Fr Raphael Ma, CR
- Matthew 28: 16 - 20
A Resurrectionist Vocation Minute for May 17, Ascension of the Lord
But what if I have doubts?
The Ascension of Jesus, which we celebrate this Sunday in the various Dioceses in Canada marks the beginning of the mission of the Church. While the actual events will have a dramatic launch on the day of Pentecost, it is here that Jesus actually gives them their mission.
We would expect to find the disciples excited and ready to get started, having been with Jesus these past 40 days after his resurrection, showing himself to them in the powerful ways we read about in the Gospels. But instead, we are told:
“When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted.”
And Jesus’ response is not to ask them why they still did not have faith in him – as he did a few times during his public ministry, nor does he even offer an argument or explanation. Instead, Jesus gives them a mission, and a promise.
“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
In my travels, I have come to see that parts of the Congregation of the Resurrection in places like Brazil and Tanzania have men in formation because they are willing to take a risk. You can say that it is because they are poorer, or less educated and do not have as many options as we do – and there is some truth to that. But like Aesop’s fable of the fox and the cat, although the fox claims to have many ways of escaping – while the cat only has one – when it is time for action, the cat does what needs to be done, while the fox does nothing, paralyzed by its inability to choose between its options.
Jesus’ first disciples had doubts when he commissioned them, but instead of spending all their time debating and trying to come up with the best plan of action, they took action, and the rest, as they say – is salvation history.
“The strength of the Congregation is dependent upon the intensity of the spiritual life and the fruitful apostolic life of each local community. Therefore, individual Houses will be vital Christian communities, where the faith, hope and love of each religious is both expressed and developed. Faith is expressed and developed as the religious share their Christian values, celebrate the Eucharist together and pray together. Hope is expressed and developed when they share one another’s sorrows and joys and when they encourage and support one another in pursuit of their spiritual and apostolic goals. Love is expressed and developed by their efforts to bring the care, compassion and forgiveness of Christ to one another and by their efforts to become signs of the unrestricted quality of His love, by the sincere manifestation of their love for all of the religious with whom they have been asked to share their lives in this particular local community.”