Seeing the Master ascending further and further away, the Apostles had to choose between two states of mind: joy or sadness.
Newsdesk (09/06/2025 18:17, Gaudium Press) If we were in Bethany, in the place of the Apostles, at the moment when Jesus ascended into Heaven, what would our reaction be: joy or sadness?
“Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven.(LK 24:50-51).
Seeing the Master moving further and further away, how many feelings must have pervaded the souls of the Apostles, accelerating their heartbeats and provoking abundant tears. It certainly occurred to them that the Voice that had taught them so much would no longer be heard; those Eyes that had strengthened and encouraged them would be hidden from their sight; the communicative warmth of that Heart would no longer be felt.
Faced with this scene, of the two potential states of mind, let us start with sadness. During their three years of close contact with Our Lord, the Apostles realized how He always solved any embarrassing situation that arose. If the problem was the peddlers in the Temple? The Master alone, with a whip in His hand, drove them out. A storm at sea with danger of shipwreck? All it took was a word from Him to calm the winds. A blind or crippled person asked for healing? Jesus would work a miracle with a simple gesture.
Now, however, the Master was no longer by their side, and the security they felt in His presence was dissipating.
It could then have happened that some of the Apostles were saddened by the absence of this comfort. In such a case, the sadness would be based on self interest, the consequence of a life centred on one’s own comforts and interests, without consideration for the broader picture.
However, thanks be to God, the opposite happened, because the Apostles ‘returned to Jerusalem with great joy’ (Lk 24:52). This shows that they were more concerned with the joy that Jesus would have when He returned to the Father than with their own convenience. They loved the Master so much that they didn’t care about the vicissitudes that would befall them, because what mattered to them was the good of Jesus. ‘If the Master is well, so are we,’ they would have reasoned. ‘If the Master has chosen this, all is as it should be.’
The secret of joy
Herein lies one of the secrets to always being joyful: getting outside of yourself and caring about others. First and foremost, concern for God, but for love for God to be authentic, it must be translated into genuine and heartfelt love for our neighbour. It is common knowledge that thinking too much of oneself, apart from the need for basic self-care and reasonable boundaries, leads to a series of problems, such as difficulties in relationships with relatives and friends, damage to physical and mental health and, above all, distancing oneself from union with God. Turning in upon oneself leads to a type of narcissism that in its endless effort to place oneself at the centre of everything, ultimately destroys the true beauty of one’s self, for we are made in relationship to others and to God.
On the other hand, those who think more of the good of others than their own, who have a true zeal for souls, make the Heart of the One who said ‘love one another as I have loved you’ (Jn 13:34) tender, and put God in a position which, so to speak, obliges Him to take special care of those who care more for their neighbour than for themselves.
Happy are those who know how to trust in Providence, for if he who gives a glass of water to a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward [Mt 10:41], what can we say about he who does everything in his power for the material and spiritual good of God’s children?
By Rodrigo Siqueira
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Compiled by Roberta MacEwan
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