“When he had said this, as they were looking on,

he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight.

While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going,

suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them.

They said, ‘Men of Galilee,

why are you standing there looking at the sky?’”

Many of you know that my journey to priesthood was not a straight line. The mountains had not been made low nor the valleys filled in for me. Three semesters after I began seminary formation, I left seminary without knowing whether I would ever go back. After three years, I did return to continue my journey, but in my final year a serious issue arose that consumed my vision. On a retreat before my final semester, I decided that I would never be ordained a priest. Thankfully, I had a wise and patient spiritual director that helped me further discern God’s call in my life. My spiritual director helped me to realize that the one issue I was fixated upon was not the whole picture. In fact, God was at work in many other ways that I had failed to understand because of my focus on the one issue. I broadened my horizon, saw reality in a more complete way, and continued my journey toward priesthood. Thank God for my spiritual director!

We can all get stuck. Sometimes that can be from the past: regret for things we have done or failed to do or longing for the way things used to be. Sometimes we can get stuck from the future: anxiety over what may or may not come to be or waiting for some other action to take place. Sometimes, it is true, we can get stuck from the present: being overwhelmed by an issue or constrained by obligations. In a sense, we can all just be standing there looking at the sky, whether that “sky” be past, present, or future. In today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, it is almost humorous to me how quickly the two men dressed in white appear and ask their poignant question. I mean, Jesus did just a second before ascend into heaven. I guess God really didn’t want the apostles to get stuck, longing for what had been, overwhelmed by the moment, or fearful of what could be. They were focused on one thing and God, through his messengers, helped them to get a more accurate picture of reality. This one thing is not all that is and it is certainly not the end. Get moving!

We can all have myopic vision from time to time. As has been my experience, when one thing becomes the sole focus of my attention, it obscures the true contours of reality. More recently, with talk of tariffs and trade wars potentially leading to recession or, even, the collapse of the international monetary system, my anxiety about what that could mean for our parish and school ministries escalated. I discussed my concerns with Fr. Loi and he simply responded, “Then, we will be more like the Church in Vietnam.” I actually laughed out loud and haven’t had a moment of anxiety since. It was almost as if he showed up out of nowhere and said, “Why are you standing there looking at the sky?”

The one thing we may be focused on, that has us stuck, is not everything and is certainly not the end. If we can’t see it ourselves, may God send messengers (like angels, spiritual directors, or Fr. Loi) to help broaden our vision and see reality more clearly. God is at work in many ways that we may not recognize at the moment. Trust in him. Get moving!