Spiritual Training Wheels
2021년 5월 16일Spiritual Training Wheels
< Seventh Sunday of Easter >
We are once again in an in-between time. Holy Saturday was an in-between time. Jesus was crucified, dead and buried, but not yet resurrected. Then Jesus rose from the dead and for 40 days taught his disciples, who certainly must have felt especially blessed and joyful to be in the holy presence of the Risen Lord. But last Thursday we celebrated the feast of the Ascension, when Jesus rose to heaven, body and soul. So once again we feel the absence of Jesus. We feel alone, uncertain, abandoned and perhaps afraid. But it is necessary for us to experience the absence of Jesus for us to appreciate what he wants to do with us: teach us to stand on our own two feet.
Can you remember learning how to ride a bicycle as a child? Perhaps you started with a tricycle. Very easy, very stable, but very temporary. Only little kids ride tricycles. To ride like the big kids we have to learn how to ride a two-wheeler. Perhaps at first we used training wheels. Not pretty but at least they kept us from tipping over. Then the training wheels come off, but our father or older sibling helps us maintain our balance. Before you know it, we turn around and see our father is no longer holding us up. We are riding all by ourselves. We have learned to balance ourselves. This is what Jesus is doing! His gospel acted as training wheels. Then we took those off and Jesus himself kept us from falling. But suddenly Jesus lets go of us through his Ascension. At first we panic until we realize we are balancing all by ourselves. The gospel and Jesus have become part of us to give us balance throughout our lives.