ASCENSION (B)

Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.

Mk 16:15-20

One teacher shared with me how she became a teacher. One day when she and her cousins were young, they were called to the house of their aunt. Their aunt had them stand in a file in front of her. Then she pointed to her and her sister and said, “You will become teachers.” Then she pointed to the next cousin and said, “You will become a nurse.” And to the third, she said, “You will become a pharmacist.” She was not prophesying their future. She was already deciding their future by telling them what courses to take in college. She felt she had the right to decide their future because she was the one who was going to pay for their college education.

When Jesus called his disciples, he had already their future in mind. He was already deciding what they were going to do. He was going to send them out into the whole world to proclaim the gospel to every creature. This was their mission. This was their vocation.

Don Bosco said that it was very important for us to discover our mission in life. He said among other things that our happiness probably depended on it. The reason for this is that when we carry out our mission in life, we will experience a sense of self-fulfilment. “I did what I was supposed to do in life.” St. John the Baptist suffered martyrdom, but I suppose he died feeling self-fulfilled because he was able to carry out his mission. He did what was meant to do in life. He pre-pared the way of the Lord.

Carrying out our mission in life is not just about feeling fulfilled and happy. When we fulfil our mission in life, we are leaving a legacy behind. This legacy means that we have made a difference in this world. We did some good and this good remains even after we die.

Ninoy Aquino stood up against the Marcos dictatorship. Sentenced to die by a military court, he refused to ask Marcos for clemency, saying “I would rather die on my feet than live on my knees.” Beset by heart troubles, he was allowed to go to the United States for surgery. After he got well, he taught at Harvard and continued to give speeches assailing what he called the conjugal dictatorship of Imelda and Marcos. But what he enjoyed most was being with his family. Imprisonment had separated him from Cory and his children. He could just have stayed in the US.

But one day he decided to return to the Philippines, hoping that he can persuade Marcos give up power and to restore democracy. Warned not to return because of threats of assassination, he declared, “The Filipino is worth dying for.” He returned and he paid for it with his life. He was shot at the tarmac of the International Airport that bears his name today.

Ninoy Aquino’s has been dead for 26 years already. But his legacy remains - freedom and democracy for the Filipino people.

Not everyone can leave the kind of legacy that Ninoy Aquino has left behind. If we can not make a difference in the life of millions of people, we can at least make a difference in the life of some of them.

Consider what this parish priest did for six altar boys. They come from a far-flung town in Bicol. These boys have never been outside of Bicol. One day he had to go to Manila. As a reward, he brought these six altar boys with him. But he really had something else in mind. He wanted the boys to see that there was world out there that was bigger than their small town in Bicol. He wanted the boys to see for themselves possibilities for their future. By making them see these things, he planted a seed in their hearts. That seed grew and bore fruit. All of them without exception became professionals. This parish priest made a difference in the life of at least these six altar boys.

If I believe that everyone has a mission in life, if I believe that everyone is meant to make a difference in this world, then I have to believe that no one is useless. I have to believe that no one is good for nothing. And that includes me.

Henry Cardinal Newman wrote: "God has created me, to do him some definite service; he has committed some work to me which he has not committed to another. He has not created me for nothing. Therefore, I will trust him. Whatever, wherever I am. I cannot be thrown away."

God has not created me for nothing. He has created me for something. He has created me to make a difference in this world. I only have to discover it. I only have to fulfill it. But the questions remain. Have I already discovered it? And more importantly, am I already fulfilling it?