May 17, 2026 Homily: Fr. Vigoa — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:01There's a line in today's first reading
2. 0:03that I've always thought about when this
3. 0:05feast comes up.
4. 0:07And it probably it's probably one of the
5. 0:08most underrated lines in the entire New
6. 0:11Testament.
7. 0:12Jesus has just ascended to heaven.
8. 0:16The apostles are standing there on the
9. 0:19Mount of Olives staring into the sky.
10. 0:22I'm sure they were probably processing
11. 0:24what just that happened, what they had
12. 0:26just witnessed.
13. 0:29Imagine the scene.
14. 0:31Their hearts are racing, confused, awe,
15. 0:34fear, maybe even sadness.
16. 0:38One moment Jesus is standing there
17. 0:40speaking to them, the next moment he's
18. 0:43taken from their sight.
19. 0:46And suddenly two angels, two men dressed
20. 0:49in white ask them a question.
21. 0:52Men of Galilee, why are you standing
22. 0:55there looking up at the sky?
23. 0:58I love that question.
24. 1:01Because it's gentle.
25. 1:03But it's also a wake-up call.
26. 1:06Almost as if heaven itself is saying,
27. 1:09"All right, you had the moment.
28. 1:11What are you still doing? Don't just
29. 1:13stand there.
30. 1:14Get busy."
31. 1:16And honestly, I think the angels are
32. 1:18still asking that same question today.
33. 1:22Not just to the apostles, but to all of
34. 1:24us.
35. 1:26Why are you just standing there looking
36. 1:28at the sky?
37. 1:30Because we do this spiritually all the
38. 1:32time.
39. 1:34We treat Christianity like something
40. 1:36distant, abstract, removed from real
41. 1:38life.
42. 1:39We wait for the perfect moment to take
43. 1:42God seriously. We wait until life
44. 1:45settles down. We wait for clarity.
45. 1:48Sometimes we wait for motivation.
46. 1:50We wait for some spiritual high.
47. 1:54Sometimes we will wait for a sign.
48. 1:57Meanwhile, years will pass in the same
49. 2:00old same old routine.
50. 2:02We get stuck spiritually.
51. 2:05Some people have been waiting to pray
52. 2:07seriously for years. Waiting come to
53. 2:10come back to confession, waiting to fix
54. 2:12their marriage, waiting to forgive,
55. 2:14waiting to surrender that that one part
56. 2:17of their life they know is not right.
57. 2:20Waiting to answer the call that God has
58. 2:22placed in their hearts.
59. 2:25And meanwhile, the angels are
60. 2:26practically saying, "Stop staring. Stop
61. 2:30looking up at the sky."
62. 2:33Because the Ascension is not just about
63. 2:35Jesus going back to the Father.
64. 2:38The Ascension is Jesus sending the
65. 2:39church into the world.
66. 2:42That changes everything when we look at
67. 2:44it that way.
68. 2:46A lot of people think the Ascension
69. 2:48means Jesus went away. No.
70. 2:51The Ascension means Jesus is no longer
71. 2:53limited by time and space.
72. 2:56During his earthly ministry,
73. 2:59if you wanted to physically be near
74. 3:01Jesus, well, you had to go to Galilee,
75. 3:04to Jerusalem, to Nazareth, one of those
76. 3:06places.
77. 3:08But now,
78. 3:10Christ is in every tabernacle all around
79. 3:12the world. At every mass, every prison
80. 3:15cell, every hospital room, every broken
81. 3:18marriage, every anxious heart,
82. 3:21every soul that cries out in loneliness.
83. 3:26The Ascension does not make Jesus less
84. 3:28present.
85. 3:29It makes him present universally.
86. 3:33That's why the last line of today's
87. 3:35gospel matters so much.
88. 3:37"Behold, I am with you always until the
89. 3:40end of the age."
90. 3:42Think about
91. 3:43how that sentence is. Jesus says, "I am
92. 3:46with you always."
93. 3:48And then he ascends.
94. 3:51At first glance, it sounds contra-
95. 3:54contradictory.
96. 3:56But Christianity has never been about
97. 3:58physical proximity to to Jesus.
98. 4:02Because plenty of people are physically
99. 4:05Many people stood physically near Jesus
100. 4:08and still rejected him.
101. 4:10The Ascension reveals something deeper.
102. 4:13Christ is now present in a way the
103. 4:15apostles themselves could barely
104. 4:16understand.
105. 4:18Present through his spirit, present in
106. 4:20his church, present in the Eucharist,
107. 4:23present in the lives of believers.
108. 4:26And this is where it challenges all of
109. 4:28us.
110. 4:29Because if Christ is truly present, then
111. 4:31the question becomes
112. 4:33why are we acting as if he isn't?
113. 4:37Why do so many Catholics live as though
114. 4:39faith is just a Sunday obligation
115. 4:41instead of the center of their
116. 4:42existence?
117. 4:44Faith becomes one of the many things
118. 4:47that we do.
119. 4:48Why do we receive the Eucharist and then
120. 4:50live exactly like everyone else from
121. 4:52Monday through Saturday?
122. 4:55Why are we so afraid to speak about
123. 4:57Jesus publicly?
124. 4:59Why are we embarrassed by holiness?
125. 5:03Why are more
126. 5:05Why are we more fluent in politics and
127. 5:08sports and finance and social media than
128. 5:12we are about the gospel?
129. 5:15The problem is not that the gospel has
130. 5:17lost its power.
131. 5:19The problem is that too many Christians
132. 5:20have become spectators instead of
133. 5:22witnesses.
134. 5:24And the Ascension destroys spectator
135. 5:26Christianity.
136. 5:28Because notice what Jesus says before he
137. 5:30ascends.
138. 5:32Go therefore and make disciples.
139. 5:35Not sit comfortably,
140. 5:37protect yourselves, hide quietly,
141. 5:41wait until culture approves. No, he
142. 5:43says, go. Move.
143. 5:46The church is never meant to be a museum
144. 5:48for saints. It was meant to be a rescue
145. 5:50mission for sinners.
146. 5:52And honestly, I think one of the great
147. 5:54temptations today is comfortable
148. 5:56Christianity.
149. 5:58A faith that stays private. A faith that
150. 6:01costs nothing. A faith that is lived out
151. 6:03in convenience.
152. 6:05A faith with no sacrifice, no mission,
153. 6:08no urgency. But that's not the gospel.
154. 6:12The apostles walked down that mountain
155. 6:14completely transformed.
156. 6:17Within weeks, they were preaching
157. 6:19publicly, suffering persecution, being
158. 6:22imprisoned, beaten, eventually martyred.
159. 6:25What changed them?
160. 6:28The certainty that Christ was alive.
161. 6:31And the certainty that heaven was real.
162. 6:34That's what the ascension does.
163. 6:37It lifts our eyes beyond this world.
164. 6:40Because let's be honest, this world can
165. 6:42be exhausting at times.
166. 6:45You look around and see division,
167. 6:47confusion, anxiety, loneliness,
168. 6:49addiction, anger, depression, families
169. 6:52that are falling apart, people searching
170. 6:55desperately for meaning.
171. 6:57And many people today are spiritually
172. 6:58starving while pretending that they're
173. 7:00just fine.
174. 7:03The ascension reminds us this world is
175. 7:05not the final destination. You were made
176. 7:08for heaven.
177. 7:09Not metaphorically, literally.
178. 7:13That longing you feel for something
179. 7:15more, that ache in your heart,
180. 7:18that restlessness, even after success,
181. 7:22that's the that's the soul re- reminding
182. 7:25you that
183. 7:26you belong to heaven. That your life
184. 7:29matters.
185. 7:30Christ has carried out humanity to the
186. 7:32throne of the Father. The path is open.
187. 7:36So, the angels ask again, "Why are you
188. 7:39just standing there?"
189. 7:42In other words,
190. 7:44start praying now.
191. 7:46Start forgiving now. Start evangelizing
192. 7:49now. Start living differently now. Start
193. 7:52taking holiness serious now.
194. 7:56Because my brothers and sisters, the
195. 7:58hilltop was never meant to be permanent.
196. 8:01The hilltop is where the apostles
197. 8:02received their mission.
198. 8:05And at the end of the mass, you will
199. 8:06hear my words say, "Go forth. The mass
200. 8:09is ended."
201. 8:11The mass does not end here,
202. 8:14but it is to go out there. The mission
203. 8:17begins with you.
204. 8:19So, stop standing there looking at the
205. 8:21sky.
206. 8:23The world is waiting for your witness.
207. 8:25It needs your courage.
208. 8:27And Christ, who has never abandoned his
209. 8:30church,
210. 8:31is walking with you, asking you to be
211. 8:34his witness in the world. Amen. Amen.