As my time at the Cathedral is coming to an end, I am noticing how different aspects of life here, of which I have grown accustomed to, are about to become memories of the past. To be sure, they will be memories that, when I recall them, will bring me great peace and joy as I recall the many blessings of having served here, some of the happiest years of my nearly fifteen years as a priest.
One thing that came to mind as I reviewed the readings for this Sunday (the Ascension of the Lord) was something from the Responsorial Psalm. It is not any specific word that I will remember, but rather something unique that accompanies those words as this psalm is sung at the masses this weekend. The response is as follows: “God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.” (Ps 47:6) As that verse is sung, Mark Gifford always adds a little trumpet blast from the organ. I usually remember that it is coming, but every time I hear it, I cannot help but smile – it brings me great delight, and I am sure every time I hear this verse in the future, even if not accompanied by this musical flourish, I will remember what happens here with that same delight.
Though Psalm 47 certainly has its own Old Testament context, possibly connected to the Feast of Tabernacles, our liturgy for this Sunday sees it as connected to Jesus ascending to Heaven to take His place forever as the King who will reign supreme for eternity. The psalm is a jubilant expression of the praise in Heaven as the saints clap their hands and shout with joy, blowing trumpets as they gather around their King. I have therefore chosen the following invocation from the Litany of the Sacred Heart for this feast of the Ascension:
Heart of Jesus, delight of all the saints, have mercy on us
This feast day invites us to consider the delight that we will have when we finally are welcomed into this wonderful scene when we reach the end of our earthly pilgrimage. It is so hard for us to grasp this delight will far exceed any of the delights we experience in this life. And yet, it is true! This does not mean that we downplay the delights of this life. We accept them with gratitude, recognizing them as the gifts that they are from God, but we rejoice in our belief that something more awaits us. And unlike the delights of this world, which bring so much joy in the moment, but often turn into memories that may fade, the delight of the saints is ever present and never diminished. It reminds me of a line with which I sometimes conclude funerals. It comes from the conclusion of The Last Battle, the final installment of the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, wrapping up the many adventures of delight had by the main characters:
And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.