WE’LL MEET AGAIN, AND I KNOW WHEN

No, these are not the original lyrics of the renowned World War II song, interpreted by Vera Lynn. The original goes like this: “We’ll meet again, I don’t know when, some sunny day.” It was a ‘good-bye’ song dedicated to the soldiers, their families and the sweethearts left behind. The message masks the ‘heartbreak’ with a ‘smile’.

But, you might ask, how is it related to next Sunday’s Gospel: Christ’s Ascension into Heaven? Yes, it is closely related. I have always wondered ‘why’ when reading this text, the closing of the curtain on St.Mark’s Gospel. If you look up chapter 16, verse 14, we read that Jesus ‘upbraided them with their disbelief and hardness of heart’, a fact. Next they were sent on their mission, after being given their terms of reference. Then follows Christ’s Ascension into heaven. In verse 20 we read: “But they went forth preaching everywhere ….”

And here comes in Vera Lynn. I mean how was it humanly possible that not even a hint of a ‘goodbye’ was even mentioned. Having spent three whole years with a friend; sharing meals with Him, facing the same problems, experiencing the success and the disappointments of the daily life, and the rest, then comes the moment of parting. Away He went, but no sign of regret. At His parting, no sign of ‘goodbye’  was expressed, from the side of the Apostles.

The Vera Lynn song does say that ‘we’ll meet again, I don’t know when’, a thought which we cannot apply to Jesus, for He knows ‘when we shall meet again’. But I still feel that there is no sense of heartbreak at the parting of the Master. This must mean one thing; that the Apostles, not withstanding the fact that they were upbraided by the Master, or, because of it, might have realised through the power of the Spirit, and their eyes were opened.

If we do not realise this fact, it is not cold-heartedness from the side of the Apostles, but only a sign of lack of ‘faith’, on our side. The world in general has been influenced by materialism. We are living in a society that depends wholly, totally on man’s powers, achievements and emotions.

Man might still believe that God does exist, but also that His place is in the Heavens, His realm; the rest belongs, and depends, solely on man. This is the crux of the problem. Many do think that Christ ascended into heaven, as His angel told the women at the tomb, and that He has left for good. Many do not realise that Christ, ascended into the Heavens with His Body together with our redeemed  body. He ascended into heaven, but, is still on earth spiritually joined to men, He is one with their body redeemed by Him. He is not in the world (excepting the Holy Eucharist), but the world is completely His, being redeemed by Him, under the watchful eyes of His all-merciful Father and, embraced with the fullness of love of His Holy Spirit.

As Georges Bernanos wisely says: “After the Ascension of Christ it is we Christians who represent His physical body on earth, but alas, we, very often, give a wrong impression of the Risen Christ.” (liberal translation). The reason is simply because we are subjected, and surrounded by the materialism around us. We are influenced by the culture that man IS everything; man has power and wealth and is in control of world affairs.

But, alas, man is NOT immortal, the day, THAT day will surely come, when we have to say, “Goodbye”, “So long, farewell.”but not the one sung by Vera Lynn nor by the Von Trapp family, but accompanied  by the sombre notes of Chopin’s Funeral March. BUT, if I believe and behave as Christ’s Witness, there will be joy in heaven.