The Ascension Sunday
May 8, 2016
Luke 24:46-53
“As he blessed them he parted from them and was taken up
to heaven (Luk 24:32).”
The best way to say goodbye is to bless.
Every time I would leave for the Philippines and continue my formation, my
parents would hug and bless me as they mark my forehead with a small sign of
the cross. My Filipino friends have this ‘Mano Po’ tradition at the beginning
and the end of an encounter with their elderly or people they respect. They
will hold the hand of their elders, and place it on their forehead. This is, I believe, a beautiful sign of honor
and blessing. The Dominicans in Europe used to have this habit of asking
blessing to their prior before they leave for mission. Indeed, it is the motto
of Dominican to ‘praise, bless and preach’. Ultimately, every Eucharist
celebration ends with the final blessing.
Yet, what is blessing all about? In
Latin, blessing is ‘benedicere’. The word is a composition of two other Latin
words: ‘bene (good)’ and ‘dicere (to speak)’. Thus, to bless is to
speak good word. Since the word tends to become flesh, we wish that the good
word we utter for our beloved turn to be a reality as well. If we look closely
the story of creation in Genesis 1, we discover God did threefold acts:
creating, seeing goodness and blessing the creations. When God created the
universe, God made sure that His creations were good and because of this
goodness, He blessed them. Blessing is not simply human act, but also divine.
It is not simply saying good, but also discovering good. It is not only wishing
good and nice words, but hoping good things to happen.
As the Father has blessed the creations
before He rested in the seventh day, the Son also blessed His beloved disciples
before He ascended into His resting abode. When God blessed Adam and Eve, He
said, “Be fertile and multiply! (Gen
1:28)” God’s blessing names, affirms and rejuvenates the goodness in us.
Because of our goodness is reaffirmed, it empowers man and woman to be
fruitful, joyful and generous. God’s blessing transforms us into blessing also
for others.
To
bless is our vocation as the disciples of Christ. Catherine Marie Hilkert, OP
once said that preaching is naming grace, then it is also true that preaching
is naming goodness. Unfortunately, instead blessing, we choose to curse. In
Latin, cures is ‘maledicere’, to speak bad. Just like blessing, bad words tend
to become flesh. Families are broken because we forget to say blessing, and
focus on blaming. Religious intolerance, violence and even terrorism begin at
the holy pulpit. Sadly, in time of election, from far West, the United States
to the far East, Indonesia and the Philippines, politicians running for the
offices engage in mudslinging, trade accusations, and employ nasty tricks.
Defying reason, the people turn to be fanatic, frantic and partial supporters,
willing to do anything for the candidate they admire.
Our world has been fractured and
disfigured due to the curses we utter. Adam and Eve said no to God and passed
the blame to each other. As their offspring, we continue this destructive
curse. We desperately need blessing to undo this vicious cycle. Then, Jesus
came and embraced all the bad things in His cross and made them fruitful again
in His resurrection. Now, He ascends into Heaven and before He goes, He makes
sure that His blessing remains. Ascension reminds us that we have the mission
to name goodness and allow ourselves to become blessings to others. Only by
becoming a blessing, we may heal ourselves, our family, our society and our world.
Bro. Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP
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