It is not always easy to remember this promise. The disciples' hearts must have been breaking that day when they watched him leave them again, and yet his words were still ringing in their ears: I am with you always ... I wonder what happened after he had been raised up to heaven on that day. Did they stay in that place, each one of them perhaps remembering a moment that they had shared with him? He had come back from the dead and had appeared to them during forty days, speaking about the kingdom of God (Acts 1: 3), and now he had told them to remember all these wonderful moments that they had shared together as a way of helping them to deal with the grief of this second loss, but also as added proof that what he had told them while he was alive would really come true.
They also remembered some particularly poignant moments, like flashes of memories from the time he had spent with them. Stay in Jerusalem and ... wait there for the promise of the Father (Acts 1: 4). Why had he asked them to do this? He had told them that the Father would send another Advocate; there were more gifts to be received from God. This same advice is also true for us today. It is never easy for our hearts to be at rest when there are changes happening around us, yet the Lord asked the disciples to stay where they were and to wait. Often, when change occurs, we feel like we have been set adrift; we want to move as quickly as possible into another established routine, we want to find something familiar so that we can feel settled again. However, Jesus is always with us, even at times when we are in turmoil. What we must do is sit still - as difficult as that might be - and wait for the Lord to show us the next move.
You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1: 8). Jesus had shown his heart to the disciples during the time he had spent with them, and because they had seen his heart, their own hearts had been changed. They had once been a group of misfits: people from all walks of life who knew very little about each other and yet they had been seduced by the voice that had called to them, invited them to follow him. They were eager to spend time with them, but they had no idea how their lives would be changed. Now that they had experienced such tender love, such profound mercy, now that they had witnessed such miracles, now that their hearts had been changed, he was inviting them to be his witnesses, to tell other people about what they had experienced. In fact, their witness has reached all the ends of the earth and thanks to that, we have heard the word. We too must receive this word, allow it to transform our hearts and then be willing to be witnesses of that which we have learned.
Do we ever pray for the grace to remember that Jesus is with us always, to always remember that we are never alone? At times in our lives when we have experienced great change, have we prayed for the grace to stand still and to wait for the Lord to show us the path that we should follow? Have we heard the Lord's invitation addressed to us, a call to witness to our faith in action? Jesus is counting on us to continue the work that he began: calling people together - at times even misfits - and helping all people to open their hearts so that the Lord can make us all his disciples.
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