Ascension Sunday (Year B)

I often ask my student a hypothetical question. What would happen if Jesus did not ascend into heaven after his resurrection? Actually, this question is not very well phrased. What would happen to whom? to what?
Before answering this question, we must keep in mind that Jesus would not die again after his resurrection. Therefore, Jesus would be celebrating his 2009^th birthday this December. (For the simplicity of discussion, we assume that Jesus was born on the 25^th of December.) He would be the oldest surviving founder of Christianity. Do we have any freedom NOT to believe in him? Christianity would become the ONLY religion on earth, worshipping Jesus Christ, following his teachings to love each other. We would not need to preach, to evangelize. Nor would we need to struggle for our own salvation. Under the sovereignty of Jesus, there would be peace on earth, no wars, no conflicts, no United Nations, no terrorism. Wouldn't it be a wonderful world? Why did Jesus choose to leave us and ascend to heaven, returning to the Father?
I guess you have already known my position.
First of all, God respects our freedom NOT to believe in Him. Without ascension, we have no choice but to believe in Jesus. Our faith would not be genuine.
Secondly, we will not cherish anything which falls freely on our lap. We have to put in efforts and pay prices if we really want to enjoy anything. I think the same applies to our faith. We need to invest our energy and commit our life to expel our doubts. Only then can our faith be purified and genuine.
Lastly, evangelization is a challenging project. We lay bare our faith in front of all sorts of encounters and tests. The more we evangelize, the more we cherish our own relationship with Jesus and our neighbours. Evangelization brings salvation to us and the others.
Therefore, Jesus must leave us so that we can be mature Christians.
In the gospel reading today, Jesus promised the evangelists 5 special gifts to back up their missions. These are signs and traditionally, they are interpreted as miracles.
And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues;
they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover (Mark 16:17-18).
Fr. Martin had a more down-to-earth and less dramatic interpretation. Surely, there are sensational cases of exorcism reported by the media nowadays. But Fr. Martin would rather see those "demons" as unresolved psychological complexes in our personality. Instead of a few victims, all of us are involved. Through our faith in Jesus, we are liberated from the tortures of our character defects.
Speaking new languages is no longer difficult nowadays. There are even charismatic churches whose members speak in tongues when the Holy Spirit descends on them! Fr. Martin preferred seeing our ability to speak to the hearts of men. In fact, each of us speaks a different language. Seldom do our talks touch the hearts of our listeners. With the gift of the Holy Spirit, we are able to speak to and touch the hearts of our neighbours.
In Malta, St. Paul had a viper fastened on his hand and suffer no harm (Acts 28:3-5). Other than that, I have not read any story of anyone drinking poison that does not hurt him. Anyway, I am sure God will protect us and if it be His will, we will not suffer any harm.

Dear Lord, I do not seek miracles. If it be Your will, may my encounters with everyone a healing experience for him and for me. May Your touch uplift and transform our souls. Amen.