Some doubted

It is a powerful scene in today’s Gospel for the Solemnity of the Ascension (Mt. 28:16-20), literally a mountaintop experience, as the eleven disciples behold Christ risen from the dead in all his glory.

But then comes this odd sentence:

And when they saw him, they worshipped him:
but some doubted.

They knew it was Christ, they recognized his divinity and so they worshipped him, but they were still imperfect human beings, their minds not yet filled with the beatific vision.

Fortunately, their success does not depend upon their own perfection, but rather on Christ, who guarantees to them that he has literally all the power of the universe and more, and that he will never leave them.

So too we should not be too hard on ourselves if our own faith or our own understanding for a time is not as perfect or as heroic as we think it should be.

That which we believe comes not from ourselves but from Christ and so also the power of faith is not our own power or worthiness but that of Christ, who will be faithful to us always.

"All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age."