“With joyful songs, Jesus ascended to heaven, where he sits at the right hand of the Father,” with these words the Pope began his Vespers homily on May 9, the Feast of the Ascension of Christ. Francis explained that the Lord’s ascension into heaven is not a separation, or a departure from us, but the conclusion of His mission.
Inese Steinert – Vatican
“Jesus came down to us to allow us to go up to the Father,” said the Pope, “He came down to bring us up; descended into the depths of the earth, that the heavens might spread over us. He overcame our death so that we might have life forever.”
The Holy Father explained that this is the basis of our hope: the ascended Christ carries into the heart of God our humanity, full of longings and questions, in order to instill in us the confidence that where He is, the head and the firstborn, we will also be His members. , united in the same glory. Christian hope supports us in our journey of life even when it seems tiring and difficult. It opens before us the ways of the future, when pessimism would like to keep us captive. It allows us to see possible good when evil prevails; Christian hope inspires peace when our hearts are burdened by sin. It makes us dream of a new humanity and gives us the courage to build a fraternal and peaceful world when it seems that nothing is worth starting. “This is hope – a gift that the Lord has given us in Baptism,” said the Pope.
In preparation for the 2025 Jubilee Year of Christianity, the Bishop of Rome encourages us to raise our hearts to Christ in order to become “singers of hope” in a civilization marked by too much despair. Francis called not to forget that hope does not disappoint, that it is necessary for the society in which we live. Society is often stuck only in the past and cannot look into the future. Hope is necessary for our age, which sometimes drags wearily into the gray of individualism; it is necessary for a creature sorely injured and ruined by the selfishness of men; hope is needed by peoples and nations who look to tomorrow with anxiety and fear, while injustices continue, the poor are pushed back, wars sow death, the last are still at the bottom of the list and the dream of a fraternal world risks turning into a mirage.
“Hope,” the Pope continued, “is necessary for young people who have often lost their way but want to live a full life. It is necessary for old people who cannot be respected and listened to by a culture of efficiency and rejection; hope is necessary for the sick and for all those who are crippled in body and spirit, who can receive relief through our closeness and our care”.
“Furthermore,” said Francis, “hope is necessary for the Church, so that even when it sinks under the burden of fatigue and fragility, it does not forget that it is the Bride of Christ, loved with an eternal and faithful love and called to keep the light of the Gospel, sent to give everyone the fire that Jesus brought and kindled into the world once and for all.
“Hope is necessary for each of us,” said the Bishop of Rome at the end of his homily, “for our life, which is sometimes weary and wounded; for hearts thirsty for truth, goodness, and beauty; dreams that no darkness can darken. Everything – both inside and outside of us calls out for hope and, without even realizing it, seeks God.”
The Pope wished “that the resurrected and ascended Lord give us the grace to reveal hope, to preach hope and to build hope.”
