“And, while he blessed them, he departed from them and was taken up to heaven. They bowed down before him and returned to Jerusalem rejoicing”; Lc. 24, 51-52
On this Sunday the Church invites us to celebrate, within the Easter joy, the
Ascension of Jesus to heaven. Jesus, winner of evil and death, returns to glory
heavenly, and sits at the right hand of God the Father. He is the same Lord, Eternal Word, who
after concluding his mission on Earth, he returns to be with the Father. But in
a certain way, it is no longer exactly the same, it carries with it and forever, our
humanity. She has our body and even more, she bears the marks of passion, in her
hands, on his feet and on his side. His dedication, his fidelity, his love to the extreme
He left signs that can never be erased.
And that is why he is our great intercessor with the Father. He is God of the
same nature as the Father, and feels and knows the same as the Father, but also
it has the same nature as us, and feels and knows the same as we do. By
that, he was able to speak to us with authority, he was able to reveal the whole truth to us, he was able to say with
human voice words of eternal life, because it was God made man. But now
being at the right hand of the Father, being man-God, he can speak to the eternal Father
of our needs, our problems and anxieties. You can say, “Dad
listen to this son of yours, this my brother who is suffering, look at my hands, my feet,
my side, I know what it is to suffer on Earth." And through Jesus, our plea is
makes strong and a channel of thanks opens.
It is very interesting how Lucas tells the Ascension: "and while he was blessing them,
he walked away and was taken up to heaven." The blessing that Jesus was doing did not end. The
re-entered eternity blessing us, this means that the action of blessing us is not
will never end.
Luke also shows us that, before Jesus who was blessing their
disciples “fell down”. Certainly this was a sign of the reception of the
blessing. They were not closed. They were not ignorant. Today, Jesus continues to bless us,
but unfortunately many of us ignore it. Sometimes we don’t know anymore
bow down We are inattentive, so busy and preoccupied with ourselves,
that the grace of God goes unnoticed.
With the Ascension Jesus does not leave us. On the contrary, returning to the mystery of God,
he is with us every day and for us he continues to be a source of blessing.
The Lord bless you and keep you,
The Lord make his face shine on you and have mercy on you.
The Lord turn his loving gaze and give you PEACE.
Bro. Mariosvaldo Florentino, Capuchin.
