On
the Internet you can find a number of collections of famous last
words.
Some
of the quotes I found were well documented and supported, others were
unverified.
They
ran the full range from defiant and bitter to accepting and joyous.
From
spontaneous to carefully planned.
Public
and political to private and personal.
Many
were inspirational, and reverent.
Many
were farewells to spouses and families and friends.
Many
expressed trust or hope that they were going home to their merciful
God.
Some
were intentionally witty, perhaps to ease the tension of the moment.
Oscar
Wilde had evidently been confined to his room too long.
At
the end he said, Either this wallpaper
has to go or I do.
Groucho
Marx supposedly exited with, Die, my
dear? Why that's the last
thing I'll do.
Some
were unexpecting—and mistaken.
Seconds
after being shot, Archduke Franz Ferdinand told his aide,
It is nothing.
Union
General John Sedgwick, approaching the fringe of a battlefield,
assured his men.
They
couldn't hit an elephant from this dist—.
On
the Fourth of July in 1826 Thomas Jefferson said, simply, Is
this the Fourth?
He
and his old rival, John Adams, were in a contest to outlive each
other.
On
that very same day John Adams, unaware that Jefferson had just died,
Uttered
his last words, Thomas Jefferson (still
survives).
Due
to the gravity surrounding them, last words are often given special
attention.
Especially
if they were intended to impart wisdom or guidance.
Such
as Andrew Jackson's: Be good, children, and we
shall all meet again in Heaven.
Or
those last words of Jesus as he hung on the cross.
Repeated
by a number of people now recognized as saints.
And
many more people not recognized as saints.
Father,
into your hands I commend my spirit.
Those
were Jesus' last words before his death.
But,
unlike anyone before or since, he came back and gave us more last
words.
Those
words we hear in today's Gospel.
These
were his words at his ascension into Heaven.
A
supernatural, miraculous departure that was clearly not into death
but into glory.
The
last words he spoke during his physical human presence on earth.
And
in those words he gave us, his disciples, his final parting
instructions.
Go
into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.
That
instruction, that command, that assignment, is referred to as the
Great Commission.
We
see other common examples of secular commissions in our world today.
Military
officers are commissioned, heads of government offices might be
commissioned.
Their
commissions generally come from the head of state.
Our
Great Commission, is set out in our Gospel today.
Coming
directly from Jesus, the head of our Church
Assigning
to us the duty of carrying his message to the whole world.
Granting
us the authority to represent Him.
It's
interesting that in Mark's account of this commissioning,
Jesus
instructs us to proclaim the Gospel to every
creature.
That's
sometimes translated as all creation.
So
should we proclaim the Gospel to our dogs and cats, the squirrels and
birds?
The
trees and flowers and crops and rivers?
In
a sense, yes.
St
Francis of Assisi (no stranger to creatures and nature) is often
quoted saying,
Preach
always and sometimes use words.
Our lives, our actions, proclaim the Good News of God's love more loudly than our
words.
Our
actions toward all of God's creation are a
proclamation.
In
a sense, a proclamation to and through
that creation.
When
we faithfully exercise the stewardship God has given us,
We
proclaim our love and respect for God and for all He has created.
Especially
for our neighbors who are part of that creation.
And
who share all of creation with us.
In
giving us this Great Commission Jesus also promised to support us.
He
would send his Spirit to work with us, to dwell within us.
Dwell
within each of us individually, and among us as a group.
We
members would have mutual support to and from each other—as his
Church.
Jesus
has ascended back to Heaven, but remains in Spirit as head of this
Church.
Every
week we gather together as Church for that mutual support.
We
join together in sharing the sustaining food of his presence in the
Eucharist.
We're
nourished, strengthened, recharged.
And
then, as Jesus instructed in his final words, we're sent out into the
whole world.
We
refer to our Eucharistic celebration as the Mass.
That
name comes from the Latin word missa—to
send.
And
as with all memorable last words,
The
last words of the Mass merit special attention and offer important
instruction.
They
echo Jesus' own last words, his last instruction to us, our Great
Commission.
Go
in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.
Feast of the Ascension
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