Fr. Pat Falguera, SJ
Solemnity of the Ascension of Our Lord
May 8, 2016
The showcase and highlight of the Vatican Musei tour has always been the Sistine Chapel. As one goes through the labyrinth of the Vatican’s priceless and treasures, one encounters a glimpse of the past and present converging; and this experience reaches its apex when one emerges into the Sistine chapel greeted by frescoes immortalized by Michelangelo. And at the center of the ceiling, there stands out the fascinating depiction of creation – when God touches the fingertip of Adam, and breathes life into the primordial human.
Interestingly, the ceiling also becomes the tapestry and background whenever a papal conclave is convened: when princes of the Catholic Church choose the next successor of St. Peter. And when finally, the cardinals make this life changing choice, the pope-elect is led to the room of tears. A small room next to the Sistine Chapel, it has been deemed such because of the very emotional battle ground the new pope must be confronting in the room.
We can only imagine what Pope Francis must have felt when he was first led to the room of tears. This must have been the first chance for him to kneel in prayer. Whether it was tears of deep joy and consolation; or of overwhelming sadness and desolation; or maybe a mixture of both; Jorge Cardinal Bergoglio had to make a choice at a kairos point in time, when God’s fingertip once again reached out to our frail humanity.
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Making choices is a common daily occurrence in our lives. Making a choice can be as simple and trivial as choosing what to wear for an event; or it can be as profound and complex as choosing a life partner ritualized in the sacred. Making choices however is always done in a context. And for better or for worse, the context is always dynamic and changing. And coupled with the fact that what life throws at us is often beyond our control, making choices can be very difficult and taxing. When life’s unexpected storms and tempests come, we may at times, act and choose impulsively, often with disastrous consequences and irreversible repercussions. And if traumatized by such choices, our fears and doubts may yet sap the life out of us and we begin to view the world from a dark place.
And so it is but fitting that Ascension Sunday invites us to look up from our places of darkness. When our backs have been bent and weighed down by life’s burdens; when our heads our bowed down, and we can only see the mud and filth of why and of how we ended up in dirt. The solemnity of today’s feast reminds us to look up, to reach out to light and to the heavens. Even if are undeserving, even if we feel unworthy, for we do always have a choice. And Ascension Sunday highlights this choice: that if we reach rock bottom, that indeed, we can look up and reach out to the offer of light above us. That when we tether towards despair, that it is never too late to grasp that hand of mercy and compassion, and allow grace to enter our lives.
This is how the Gospel presents an overture of our faith as Jesus gives a promise and an assurance of courage and companionship as a prologue to His Ascension. That amidst suffering will emerge the resurrection; that amidst sin will emerge repentance and forgiveness. This promise comes to fruition when we practice the charity that we preach; when we bear witness to the truth, not only with our words, but more importantly with our actions.
And fittingly, before He ascends into heaven, Jesus offers a prayer for his friends; he imparts his blessing which gives great joy to those lives he had touched; whose lives will never be the same as they set out on the blessed journey of changing the world for the better, and forever.
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We can only imagine what Pope Francis must have felt when he finally emerged from the room of tears. By the time he donned the papal vestments, he may still have had little time to internalize the choice he had made earlier to accept both the blessing and the curse of being elected as Peter’s successor. But by dressing simply, hanging on to the same pectoral cross he wore as Archbishop of Buenos Aires, he may have an experience similar to the promise and assurance of companionship Jesus offered his friends before he was taken away from them. And perhaps having made his consciousness examen, Pope Francis must have begged for wisdom and courage; for love and inner peace, in making his choices.
And perhaps, at that moment, Pope Francis realized that indeed all his life, he had been making choices. But at that blessed moment of grace, maybe it dawned upon him, that it was the choices he made which ‘made’ him and led him to choose the Choice which made him in the first place. And with tremendous humility, on that balcony where he faced the countless rejoicing in the choice of his fellow cardinals, he did something remarkable. He asked for the peoples’ blessing. And with his head bowed down, Pope Francis asked the people to pray for him, to pray with him. And so this has been the recurring plea and petition Pope Francis has been interjecting in his talks and homilies. “Please, pray for me.”
And so as we – as a people and as a nation – go to the polls come election day, perhaps this is the same plea and petition our country’s nameless and powerless whisper when we enter that inner space; when we enter our own version of the room of tears within us, and put in our vote and elect our government leaders. We will be making a choice which will either make or unmake us a nation. But perhaps, in the stillness of our hearts, when we drown our fears and doubts; making our choices based on our hopes and dreams, rather than from the dark places and corners we find ourselves in, we may yet experience the assurance and promise, that no matter what, our choices will always somehow lead us to back the Choice who first made us; to that Choice who first touched the finger tip of our human frailty. We will be led back to the Choice who first spoke us; and to that Choice who chose to love us – and promised to be with us – to the very end.