Gospel according to Saint Luke 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.

The Holy Spirit, dove and hummingbird

Luis CASASUS President of the Idente Missionaries

Rome, June 01, 2025 | Ascension of the Lord

Acts 1: 1-11; Heb 9: 24-28; 10,19-23; Lk 24: 46-53

Today, Christ announces the reason for his Ascension: it is not a farewell, but the beginning of a new presence, now available to all human beings: the Holy Spirit who will dwell in all of us. The Ascension of Jesus begins a new way of being accompanied by the Holy Trinity, no longer physically, because that has obvious limitations, but in a more intimate way… and more clearly: I will not leave you orphaned; I will come back to you. Those who are of the world will see me no more; but you will see me, because the life I have will be yours (Jn 14: 18-20). We, even though our faith is weak, know that this refers to the Holy Spirit.

Of course, when we love someone, we want to be by his side, embrace him, listen to him, perhaps exchange a kiss. However, when that love is intense and deep, not even death can rob us of his most profound presence. Everything we do is thinking—perhaps through tears—about something he always liked… or would have disliked.

In his brilliant work The Brothers Karamazov, Dostoyevsky describes in the Epilogue, after the death of young Iliusha, how the boy Kolia and his other friends talk with moving intensity about how to keep alive the memory of those who have departed, and how their spiritual presence accompanies us as we remember them with love.

Kolia says: We must live forever with the memory of Ilyusha. […] Nothing dies if there is love to remember it.

Here, Dostoyevsky suggests that loved ones remain where there is love and gratitude. But there is more; it is not just a memory, but an authentic presence that, in a delicate but powerful way, moves us to act in a clear way and to avoid certain behaviors that would surely sadden them.

How can we perceive the active presence of the Holy Spirit?

A few days ago, a dear sister from Ecuador celebrated 30 years of her vows and recalled a poem by our Founder, which may seem written for young people, but has, for any of us, a key that is more powerful than any supposed “method” for listening to the Holy Spirit. Many of you know it; it begins like this:

My friend: Have you visited your soul?

Have you ever toured it?

I invite you to travel there

next summer.

 

I assure you; you will see streets with angels

joyfully wandering,

and sometimes, you may hear them.

This beautiful composition invites us to free ourselves from the illusion of being alone, of believing that we make decisions or take generous initiatives “that come from the heart.” Our soul is a place of permanent sowing. It is the Holy Spirit who places before us, again and again, the invitation to do the good that our Father expects of us. For centuries, philosophers, psychologists, and now neuroscientists have tried in vain to explain how this feeling of compassion and forgiveness arises, directed not only toward those who love us or are grateful for the mercy we show them if we are faithful to our inspiration.

I would like to emphasize this reality with a little story:

In ancient times, the gods sought a messenger capable of carrying their words to humans without being caught by the evil forces of the material world. They chose the hummingbird, small and agile, with a spirit so light that it could move through the forests with ease.

One day, a young man named Kanu, who valued his intelligence and youthful bravery above all else, felt a strange calling in his heart. He walked into the forest without understanding why, guided only by a deep feeling he couldn’t explain, but which dominated him. There, a hummingbird fluttered around him and then gently brushed a flower. Kanu felt that at that moment a delicate wind was whispering to him, and in that instant, he understood that the gods were saying something that his own spirit had the ability to hear.

From then on, Kanu seemed like a new person to everyone, driven by something more than his youthful energy, guided by someone who spoke to him in a way that words cannot.

The voice of the gods was like the flight of a hummingbird: imperceptible to many, but clear and unmistakable to those who know how to listen.

—ooOoo—

But the Ascension is also a visible proof of divine trust, the culminating moment of the confirmation of the apostles, who understood that they were inheriting the same mission as Christ: to proclaim to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem, a message of conversion and forgiveness of sins. This filled them with joy, and that is why today’s Gospel text ends by saying that they returned to Jerusalem filled with joy. They not only felt accompanied, but also esteemed, called to be responsible for living the greatest love possible, for giving the witness that every human being needs in order to live in hope in this world, which is not our home or our way of life.

That is why St. John Paul II reminded us that heaven is not an abstraction or a physical place in the clouds, but a living and personal relationship with the Holy Trinity. It is our encounter with the Father that takes place in the risen Christ through the communion of the Holy Spirit.

A few years ago, the protagonist of a story about a group of soldiers who, during World War II, were passing through a village in France, wanted to share it with the world. They decided to stop for a while to rest before continuing. This soldier went to the parish church, or what was left of it. The walls were still standing, but the roof had collapsed as a result of the bombing.

In the sanctuary there was a niche, and in the niche a statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The arms of the statue were stretched out in front of it, beyond the niche. When the roof collapsed, the hands of the statue were cut off. Someone had written beneath the statue: I have no hands but yours. Those words were engraved forever in the soldier’s heart. It was especially on the Ascension of Jesus into heaven that we received the same command that Christ g

This fills us with joy in the midst of difficulties and impotence. We do not need to reach heaven for Jesus’ words to be fulfilled: Truly, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy (Jn 16:20).

Let us keep in mind what it means to “be his witnesses,” as the first reading says. Neither our possible ignorance, nor the reality of our sins, nor any other limitation can prevent us from being a living witness to Christ’s presence in us. If we believe we have few virtues, few talents, or little imagination, we will always have the reality of having been forgiven, of continuing to be called to forgive, which is not only a commandment but a vocation. Christ forgives us to make us witnesses of his mercy.

St. Paul expressed it clearly: God has reconciled us to himself through Christ and entrusted to us the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor 5:18), referring not only to the sacrament of Penance (Confession), but also to the form of forgiveness that each of us can convey.

This way of spreading the Good News to all nations is not a goal that can be achieved through human effort and cleverness. That is why Jesus promises to empower his messengers “from above” with his permanent presence and with the Holy Spirit. The challenge of sharing the Good News with all humanity must therefore begin as a supplication, as an Apostolic Prayer, as our Founding Father tells us, confessing that we have often wanted to take the reins into our own selfish hands, without giving the Holy Spirit a chance.

Let us remember that among the highest gifts of the Holy Spirit is that of piety, which increases our charity and enables us, among other things, to forgive what seemed unforgivable, to discover the hidden pain of our neighbor, and even to understand the deepest motive of my sin and that of my neighbor, that which makes us sick and insensitive to the delicate flight of the Holy Spirit, such as that of the hummingbird mentioned above.

I would like to close with the moving statement of our Father Founder on the Solemnity of the Ascension in that distant year of 1936, when he celebrated his First Communion in an atmosphere of civil war and hatred of the Church:

As I approached to receive Christ, I felt as if Christ was approaching me with his natural body to make a covenant of friendship. His voice then became clear, transmitting to me the voice of the Heavenly Father: “I am your ascension. You will ascend.” Your life will be an ascension; a climbing… the steps of Jacob’s ladder, flanked by the saints.

May you and I become increasingly aware of this personal ascension, a true mystical experience, silent and real, which gives us a different vision of our journey toward perfection.

_______________________________

In the Sacred Hearts of Jesus, Mary and Joseph,

Luis CASASUS

President