They left behind their 11-year-old son in the care of relatives until he could finish out the school year before joining them in New Delhi.

However, World War II broke out, suspending this kind of travel, so it would be eight years before that missionary couple could return home. When that occasion finally arose they secured transport on a freighter, a train, then, finally a cab to arrive early one morning to the home where their son was staying.

Unable to contain her excitement, the boy's mother sprinted from the cab to the front porch where her now-19-year-old son was standing with open arms when she stopped short and exclaimed to her husband, "Just look at our boy! He's gone and looked just like you!"

This week the Church commemorates the departure of Jesus from this earth in an event called the Ascension. It's after the Risen Christ has spent weeks instructing his disciples, praying for them, blessing them, and now departing from them - leaving them with the same job you and I have: to look like Jesus.

Being generous, kind, and helping the poor-

Being patient, prayerful, and grounded in scripture -

Being mindful of injustice and speaking up on behalf of the marginalized -

These are some of the ways we go about looking like Jesus.

We remember how St. John famously wrote to an expectant audience, well-aware of the brevity of life and the priceless value of each day, 'for when he appears we will be like him.'

So friends, let us set aside life's detours and distractions and make haste in doing what is right, in imitating Christ, so that we too might bear an unmistakable resemblance to our father.