I have never seen a ghost before, and to tell the truth, I am not sure that I believe in ghosts. This morning, I was discussing with colleagues mediums who claim to receive messages from the spirit world and one who even claims to have received messages from deceased pets. I’m sorry. Pardon my scepticism.
Maybe I’m too rational
or attached to the evidence before my eyes. The disciples of Jesus gathered in that upper room didn’t suffer from the same scientific mindset as most of our contemporaries. The ghost of their imaginations might have come from beyond the grave. One ghost-like characteristic that Jesus had was that he could simply appear in a room with closed doors. The disciples were rightfully startled and frightened by such an apparition. But Jesus is determined to demonstrate that he is not a ghost. He lets
them see his very physical wounds and touch his physical body. He eats a piece of grilled fish because, supposedly, ghosts do not have bodies or eat.
We have no proof of what lies beyond the grave and what, if anything, happens to our souls. The important thing is that death and the grave do not hold Jesus captive. Whatever God did with him on that Easter Sunday, he overcame the limits of his mortal flesh.
The more we identify and align with Jesus, the greater our justification for hoping that God will do the same for us. The closer we are to him in life, the closer we hope to be with him in our death. This is Christian hope—a virtue, not an immature optimism. It relates to Jesus alone and how Jesus overcame the power of death once and for all.
On Ascension Thursday, we will celebrate that
Christ was taken to heaven to claim a share in the divine life for us. In the Preface of the Solemnity, we will pray: “Where he has gone, we hope to follow.” We don’t want to be left behind roaming the world like restless ghosts or displeased ancestors who might not have had all the correct rituals performed on their behalf.
Reflections by Fr Peter Knox, SJ
