Ascension Sunday: Leaving the Dome

My dear “Chiara” bloggers…Happy Ascension Sunday! It’s been nearly a month since I’ve written on this blog, and I must apologize profusely. Since the time of my last post, I have graduated and moved back home. I will be at home with my family for a month before I move up to Connecticut, where I will be starting my new job.

It’s quite coincidental that I write this post on Ascension Sunday. Indeed, the Ascension was sort of a “graduation” for the apostles- Jesus’ ascending into heaven marked a transitional period in the lives of the apostles. That transition was surely not without their pains and difficulties. Indeed, they had gotten used to having constant access to their Lord and Savior, gotten used to a certain way things were done, etc. Similarly, at Notre Dame, which has been nicknamed “Catholic Disneyworld,” I had the idyllic situation of having “24 Hour Access to Jesus”- aka, there was a chapel in practically each building on campus that was open at all times, Eucharistic Adoration four days a week, beautiful masses about six times a day, and confessions three times a day. Practically nowhere else in the world outside of Rome can such a sacramentally rich place be found! Suddenly, I’ve been catapulted into an environment where there is only one church in town (which happens to be a church that resembles a spaceship), where there is Eucharistic Adoration only once a month, and I can’t be choosy as to the daily mass that I must attend.

However, the key in this situation is to follow the example of the apostles and look upon this change with a sense of joy in spite of my many fears. In the face of changes and difficulties such as these, the apostles had hope in Christ’s words that he would not leave them as orphans, but send them His Holy Spirit to guide them. Moreover, we also have Our Lady and the Saints looking after us and praying with us. At the very least, we can unite our sufferings with the sufferings of Christ, and that can be our comfort.

More posts will follow in the week to come! Christ Reigns!
- Chiara