Look up and down

Listening to the Spirit

Dear Lord Jesus Christ,

Right before your Ascension into heaven, you told your apostles to be His witnesses to the ends of the earth upon receiving the Holy Spirit. May I be similarly inspired to spread your Gospel message in word and deed, according to your will for me. And may I do so prudently and joyfully, with your help, your guidance, and your grace! And remembering this glorious event, help me to seek what is above, Heaven, where you are seated at the right hand of God the Father!

Listening to the Word

Lk 24:46-53

Jesus said to his disciples: “Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold I am sending the promise of my Father upon you, but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” Then he led them out as far as Bethany, raised his hands, and blessed them. As he blessed them, he parted from them and was taken up to heaven. They did him homage and then returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and they were continually in the temple praising God.

Reflection

I am one of the 15 million Filipinos who voted for Vice President Leni Robredo to be the President of the Philippines last May 9, 2022. I was devastated when I saw Fernand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr was winning with 31 million votes. My initial reactions were “I will not help the poor people anymore. I voted for them”; “If beggars will come to the house, I will ask them to wait for the Tallano gold”; “If poor people come to ask for food, I will send them to the DSWD: maybe the Nutribun bread will be given to them.” I felt frustrated with the community that I am serving that didn’t vote for Leni and Kiko tandem. Again, these were my initial reactions.

The Ascension Sunday helps me to “move on” and to accept the decision of the majority. The Ascension of Jesus invites us to LOOK UP. Look up to God. As for what is going on in our country, in our society, and in our lives, we need to ask for the guidance of God. Look up also to our soon-to-be destination. In the Preface of this Ascension Sunday, the priest will say, “he ascended, not to distance himself from our lowly state but that we, his members, might be confident of following where he, our Head and Founder, has gone before”. Where Jesus is, there we shall be, too. Look up to Jesus. He is our key to going up to heaven. As he himself said: he is the way, he is the door, too.

Ascension Sunday invites us to LOOK DOWN as well. When we look up to God, we should not forget to look down and around us, to our brothers and sisters: to the lost, the least, and the last in our society. Yes, my candidate lost in the election, but it would be unchristian not to love the winners. Pope Francis in "Evangelii Gaudium" shows the true meaning of politics for us Christians in nn. 226-230. We are “called to see political encounters as fraternal encounters, especially with people who do not agree with us: the goodness of reconciled diversity. Without such a change of heart, politics often risks turning into a violent confrontation, where people try to impose their own ideas and pursue particular interests over the common good, contrary to the principle that “unity prevails over conflict”.

Regarding what is going on in our country, I want to hold the hands of my co-Filipinos and together look up to God as we look to one another and sing: “Hawak kamay”.

“Hawak-kamay
Di kita iiwan sa paglakbay
Dito sa mundong walang katiyakan
Hawak-kamay”
Di kita bibitawan sa paglalakbay
Sa mundo ng kawalan”