Ascension

Listening as a way of life is not new. It was, however, highlighted by Pope Francis who made it as a sort of modus operandi. Let us look at how it is related to the Ascension.

However, listening also brings to the fore our human experience that the community can also become an instrument of power play and struggles.

After all, gossiping and intrigue is also listening.

We know that, although we may claim that what the community has proclaimed are the fruits of discernment and listening, it must stand the test of unity and charity.

If it leads to division and confusion, then it is not from the Spirit of God but from the Satan who appears as if he is the Angel of Light.

St. Luke (Luke 24: 50 – 53, Acts 1: 6 -12) and St. Mark (16: 19 -20) narrated the Ascension of Jesus.

The image of Jesus going up to heaven is not found in the Gospel of John. The reason is that for John, the Ascension happens during the Passion.

For John, Jesus remained with the believing community, thus it is superfluous to mention that Jesus was gone.

The Johannine Gospel contends that those who follow Jesus' word remained in his love and Jesus in them.

A community that follows the Word of God and who love another is a concrete manifestation of the abiding presence of Jesus, here and now.

Luke, on the other hand, described in a more graphic way how Jesus went back to the Father. The Apostles were gathered on Mount of Olives from where Jesus rose to the heavens while the disciples were looking up.

Luke highlighted the eschatological event when Jesus will come back from the heavens to judge the living and the dead. Sort of connecting the dots between the past of Easter and the future of the Second Coming.

As the two men dressed in white told the disciples: “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taking from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1: 11).

At the same time, it will also pave way to the dramatic descent of the Holy Spirit during the Pentecost.

Although John and Luke described the “Ascension” of Jesus differently, both accounts showed that Jesus remained with the believing community.

Luke contends that by the Ascension of Jesus and the coming of the Spirit, it has become possible to claim that Jesus speaks through the community.

“Obsculta/Ausculta, o filii” (Listen carefully, o son) were the first words of the Benedictine rule.

The Psalmist memorably prayed: “today if you hear God’s voice, harden not your hearts” (Psalm 95).

During the time of Bishop Fortich, the Church in Negros listened to the cry of the poor which led it to work for social justice.

Bishop Gregorio led the Church in Negros to listen to the promptings of the Spirit for a new springtime in lay and charismatic movement.

While during the time of Bishop Navarra, the Church in Negros listened and discern the "signs of the times," which made the Bishop together with Clergy to fight for the sanctity of life and the integrity of the family.

At present, under Bishop Buzon, the listening continues with the call for a spirituality of stewardship.