It’s graduation season, again.  If you plan to attend the graduation of a friend or relative this year, it’s time to brace yourself for the annual deluge of overworked platitudes.  There will be endless references to glasses half-full, beautiful sunsets, forever friends, and bittersweet farewells. If your life is merely ordinary, you might begin to feel like hapless flotsam on a sea of superlatives. 

Recently, a friend of mine asked my opinion of one of the favorite bromides of commencement speakers: is one’s life best spent focusing on one’s “journey” through life or the “destination” of one’s life? 

Some say that the most valuable way to spend one’s energies is to find interesting experiences and meaningful interactions with other people.  Others say that the most effective use of one’s powers is to accomplish a lasting benefit to society and/or oneself.  Both perspectives have merit; it is valuable to form healthy, lifelong relationships, but it is equally valuable to have a positive, lasting effect on the world. 

In my opinion, however, the distinction between “the journey” and “the destination” is a false dichotomy.  Everyone has a goal for their lives, and the goal determines the path one takes.  Admittedly, some goals are consciously chosen, and others are passively received, and some paths are more direct than others, but everyone’s “journey” is inextricably linked to their “destination.”  One’s destination determines one’s journey, and one’s journey determines one’s destination. 

The perceived difference between “the journey” and “the destination” might be nothing more than the fact that process-oriented people tend to savor the journey while goal-oriented people tend to focus on the destination.  Regardless of how you view this popular metaphor, today’s Gospel reading has something to say to those whose journey is discipleship and whose destination is God’s kingdom. 

Speaking to his disciples before he ascended to the Father, Jesus said, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations.” (Mt 28:18-19) 

According to Jesus, Divine power is exercised for the purpose of bringing all people to faith in God.  This is quite different from the common cultural views of Divine power.  Some people view Divine power as a quaint myth; others view it as a tool for wish fulfillment.  Still others, view Divine power as the arbitrary distribution among the population of blessings and deprivations. 

The power that Jesus bestowed on his disciples was not for the benefit of the disciples themselves, nor was it for the benefit of a few fortunate souls.  Jesus bestowed Divine power on the disciples so that all people could come to knowledge of God.  The mission Jesus gave his disciples reflects his vision of God’s power.  He understood Divine power as poured out for all, and he gave the disciples a universal commission to go out to “all nations.” (Mt 28:19)  His teaching about Divine power was also an accurate reflection of how he viewed good and evil.  In Jesus’ teaching, good and evil are easily distinguished from one another because good is selflessness while evil is selfishness. 

Jesus’ perspective on Divine power explains the meaning of the Ascension, as well.  One might wonder why he had to ascend, leaving his disciples behind.  Alternatively, one might ask if the Ascension was unnecessary, as Jesus was already fully in the presence of God due to his Resurrection.  Jesus ascended to heaven, not to abandon the disciples nor to gain something he lacked, but to symbolize the universal outpouring of Divine power.  Ascending to heaven, he was no longer restricted to one place or one time; he became Redeemer for all people, in all places, at all times.  In the Ascension, we see the perfect representation of both Jesus’ earthly ministry and his Resurrection.

Jesus’ Ascension is symbolic of the universal offer of salvation, and it provides guidance for a choice of both our journey and our destination.  The journey assigned to Jesus’ disciples is the mission of carrying the Gospel message to all the world; the destination where we hope to arrive is the same favor that God showed to Jesus in the Resurrection.  Faithful disciples follow his path in this life and the next. 

One’s destination determines one’s journey, and one’s journey determines one’s destination.  This is true regardless of how one chooses to live one’s life.  Jesus, the Risen and Ascended One, invites all people to spend their energies freely for the good of others, as he did, and thereby enjoy eternity in his company.