Roatan’s Beauty, Truth & Wisdom

Homily on the Ascension of the Lord

During the singing of the Gospel we have just witnessed the Paschal Candle being extinguished, symbolizing the Ascension of Christ to the Father, Forty Days after the Resurrection. Some paintings represent the scene of the Ascension showing us the Apostles looking upwards, where sometimes we see the entire figure of the Lord and sometimes only His feet; in others, it is as if we saw what the Lord saw as He ascended, that is, his own feet and further down the absorbed faces of the Apostles. They are two different perspectives of the same scene, and it is precisely on this different perspective that I would like to pause with you as we meditate about the Mystery of the Ascension. (…)

We ought to know how to look at the Ascension from above, as the Lord saw it: the Apostles becoming smaller and smaller, their features becoming more and more indistinct, while the dazzling light of Paradise approaches above us, and the praises of the angelic Choirs become clearer; while the doors of the heavenly Jerusalem open not only for the King of kings, but also for the holy souls of the Old Law, freed from Limbo on Easter Eve. We should consider the Ascension as the necessary premise of Pentecost, and Pentecost as the indispensable vehicle of Grace that prepares us to fight, to conquer, and to deserve the palm of victory. The absence of our King and Lord gives us the opportunity to testify to Him of our fidelity: not when He conquers and triumphs over His enemies; but when everyone, even His generals, betray Him and go over to the adversary. And just as among the Jews there were those who knew how to await the return of Moses with the tablets of the Law without building reassuring idols, so – and even more so – in the Church there have been, there still are and there always will be those who keep in mind the words of the Savior: A little while and you will no longer see me; a little while and you will see me again, because I am going to the Father (Jn 16:16). A little while and you will see me again: you will not know the day or the hour, because the master will come like a thief in the night, like the Bridegroom awaited by the wise virgins. (…)

Absence of our King and Lord gives us the opportunity to testify to Him of our Fidelity.

Dear faithful, we know that these are difficult days: the recent events, the death of Jorge Bergoglio, the convocation of the Conclave, the election of Pope Leo come at a time when we are worn out by decades of crisis, with the last few terrible years of usurpation, heresies, scandals, and the apostasy of almost the entire Catholic Hierarchy. Added to these events is the globalist coup, the increasingly evident hostility of world rulers towards those who are ruled, and the looming establishment of the tyranny of the New World Order with its diabolical agenda. We are all tired and worn out. Tired of fighting against blatant lies passed off as truth. Tired of having to justify the obvious, when the entire system propagates the absurd. Tired of having to defend ourselves from those who instead ought help us. Tired of having to protect ourselves from doctors who want to poison us, from judges who want to imprison honest people while freeing criminals, from teachers who teach errors, from priests and bishops who spread heresy and immorality. We are not made for this: it is not up to the flock to command the shepherds, the student to teach the teacher, the patient to give lessons to the doctor. This is the reason why authority exists: so that as a vicarious expression of the sole Authority of Jesus Christ, King and Pontiff, it may govern to bring about the Good.

Let us therefore live every moment of our life knowing that this is the time of trial; and that the more the battle rages, the more Our Lord will multiply the Graces He grants us to fight and conquer. And if it is true that the Lord is now physically in Heaven, it is equally true that He wanted to grant His Ministers the power to make Him still present in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. Every tabernacle, however abandoned and neglected by the foolishness of men, brings back to this valley of tears the glory of Heaven, the adoration of the Angels and Saints, the Real Presence of the incarnate God. It is true: the flame of the Paschal Candle may be extinguished, but the flame of the red sanctuary lamp that honors the Eucharistic King remains alive and burning. May the flame of Charity that burns in each of us also shine, so that our soul may be less unworthy of becoming the dwelling place of the Most Holy Trinity. And so may it be.

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