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Ascension of the Lord

A mountain-shattering earthquake
could not have changed us more
that Easter morning,
not age-old recipes for lentil soup
or spices for the kibbe,
but inside,
the reason for eating changed
when life required no eating.
Reports described this body floating,
the rules of earth reversed,
as we casually waved farewell,
because we walked on our heads
so saw him fall, not rise,
as though his body of Bethlehem
was slipping away

All gone,
in that old way of bumping shoulders,
or sipping soup,
and that was all okay.
We offered bread
with him to pass it on,
as once he blessed
and multiplied the barley loaves
in disciples’ hands,
so now their hands provided
his miracle of blessing.

Those sparse barley loaves
still carried equal weight and taste,
but we acted in his name,
and the loaves brought him along.
We preached, we prayed, we laughed
and he was there at every one.
He fell away from us,
but we will never miss him,
as he used to stop by at other times,
for now, he is always there
in a way that is more thrilling..

May 2015
Bonaventure Stefun, OFM Cap.
from Fr. David Nestler’s 20/20


See more reflections here.

Advent-Christmas