Reflections from the Heart – May 29, 2022

Ascension of the Lord
by Fr. Ivan Olmo

“Behold I am sending the promise of my Father upon you.” I once heard a person say, “promises are meant to be broken and lies are meant to be kept.” What a sad thing to say and to believe that it is ok to lie and ok to break a promise. Thank God he is truth and he always keeps his word. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. It is never ok to lie even to make someone feel better. It is never ok to lie to someone in order to prevent them from being hurt. That is wrong. God never lies. He always keeps his promises. A promise is a commitment to do or not to do something. It is a pledge, an agreement, a guarantee. For example, “do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?” It does not say part of the truth but the whole truth. Or in the Rite of Holy Matrimony, “do you promise to be true in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, to love and honor each other all the days of your life?” It is meant to be a covenant, permanent, forever. Or as in the Rite of Holy Ordination, “do you promise respect and obedience to me and my successors?” These are covenants that we enter into with God and one another. They are not contracts that can be broken or dissolved.  When God guided his people in the desert, he promised to be with them, to feed and guide them, to be their God and protect them. However, they rejected God and broke their covenant. The Father promised to send his Only Begotten Son and enter into an everlasting covenant with his chosen people. However, they would not believe. God made us a promise and the promise is no less than this: eternal life. Do you believe? Easter is about encountering the risen Savior who died for us, rose from the dead for us, ascended to Father and promised to return and bring us home. Do you believe that? Jesus is next to the Father interceding for us. By the grace of the Holy Spirit, he remains present to us in the gathered assembly, in his Word, in his priest and in his Sacrament. God loves us and desires to be united to us forever and that my beloved friend is simply the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God.