Extra Note from Father Andrew:
How amazing it would have been to experience these forty days with the apostles! We are not told details of the special proofs, instructions, and teachings that Jesus was giving them. I imagine that he was helping fill in the blanks of the things they still did not get, helping a lot of “light bulbs” turn on, so that they would be ready for the mission of being his witnesses to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8) The mission is also described by Jesus as he gives the “Great Commission” at the end of Matthew’s Gospel (Matt 28:16-20). Thanks to the apostles being faithful to this mission, we know Christ today and are blessed to be members of the spiritual family he started through them, the Catholic Church. And we are still called to share Christ and be his witnesses, in our own ways.