Jun 01., 2025 / Features, Homilies
Ascension
I was missing Pope Francis this past week so I went back to videos of his visit to Tacloban. I don’t think any papal
image from The Guardian
visit in our country was as deeply moving as that one. Remember the scenes there? Everyone was in a yellow kapote, wet, & weather beaten including Pope Francis. Walang kaarte-arteng pari. The original plan was for him to say Mass in the comforts of the sacristy. They’d just stream the video out on the giant screens. He wanted nothing of the sort, of course & wanted to be where the people were. In the homily, he spoke in native Spanish rather than officialdom Italian. Ibig sabihin galing talaga sa puso niya ang pakikiramay sa mga sinalanta ng Yolanda. “So many of you have lost everything,” he said. “Many of you lost family. All I can do is keep silence. I walk with you all with my silent heart. Many of you have asked the Lord, ‘why, Lord?’ And to each one, to your heart, Christ on the cross responds from his heart. But I (myself) have no more words that I can say. Let us look to Christ. He understands us because he underwent all the trials that we have experienced.” People who were already teary-eyed with started to cry. I myself was a mess…again. But then, later, I chuckled when the Pope was about to enter the plane back to Manila. A gust of wind whipped the Pope’s zucchetto off his head, like God saying, “Dito ka muna, hoy. Stay longer.” Which, I bet, might’ve been the people’s wish. I mean, it was my wish. And I was just a bystander.
When people saw w/ their own eyes that Pope Francis dressed like them, was all wet & weather beaten like them, was silent with them in their suffering & longing, then, they must’ve also felt upon his departure, that he took with him a real part of themselves: a chunk of their hearts, the lump in their throats, the tears in their eyes, the fight in their spirit. And bringing those w/ him, maybe he could bring them all closer to God.
Sisters & brothers, when people close to God & close to us depart, & they take with them a share in our being, a part of our lives, we feel hope, don’t we? Yes, we feel sadness. But if you go down deeper, we also feel hope; especially when they’re departing for a much better place than where we are. We hope they never forget us, for one. We hope they will always pray for us. Most of all, we hope they come back & stay with us longer. Or, if we ever make it to that better place where they are, we hope to be welcomed, too. And this time around, we hope we can be together for good.
Sisters & brothers, I’ve tried to understand Jesus’ Ascension in this light. Jesus of Nazareth lived, moved, & had his being like us in everything (in everything) except sin. So, when he ascended to the Father, Jesus “took” with him everything like us which he made like himself, “took” with him everything part of us which he made part of himself except our sinning. So, the One who ascends to heaven is deeply familiar w/ how it is being on earth. We can therefore say, “’Yang taong ‘yan na umaakyat patungo sa Diyos, alam niya kung papaanong mabasa sa ulan, kumbaga, kung paanong ginawin sa hangin, bagyuhin ng tadhana, magutom. That One who ascends knows the difference between our joy & our despair & everything else in between, because he crossed that bridge many times himself. The One who ascends values friendship & community, because he chose a bunch of friends & together, they ministered to people who needed them. The One who ascends, alam niya ang pakiramdam ng mayapos at mapasalamatan ng dukha, kasi galing din siya sa karukhaan. At marunong din umibig, kasi labis din siyang minahal at inaruga ng kanyang mga magulang.” As Jesus ascended to the Father, how closely & dearly Jesus held us in his heart. Everything we are, he also was, including our constant need of uplifting, raising, transcending, for cheering up, freeing up, & taking up.
If we felt that Pope Francis took w/ him a real part of being “us” as he made us part of himself for a few days, can you imagine what Jesus still carries w/ him to this day? He who was & still like us in everything but sin, he bears in his very being who & what we are. That’s why we say our Lord’s Ascension is not a matter of space: Jesus “up there,” & us “down here.” Rather, it is a matter of depth. The Ascension is our deepest reason to hope that we will not only be raised from death to life, we will also be taken up, lifted up towards God. Through Jesus’ Resurrection, the Lord says, “‘Wag kang mag-alala, wala nang kamatayan.” Through his Ascension, he says, “‘Wag kang mag-alala, wala nang iwanan.”
Homily delivered by Fr Arnel Aquino, SJ
during the Anticipated Sunday Mass on the Solemnity of the Lord’s Ascension
Cenacle Retreat House; 31 May 2025
