Complete homily of Pope Francis Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord

The Church needs hope, so that, even when she experiences the weight of fatigue and fragility, she never forgets that she is the Bride of Christ, loved with eternal and faithful love, called to guard the light of the Gospel, sent to bring all the fire that Jesus brought and lit in the world once and for all.

Brothers and sisters, each of us needs hope; Our sometimes tired and wounded lives need it, our hearts thirsty for truth, goodness and beauty, our dreams that no darkness can quench. Everything, inside and outside of us, longs for hope and seeks, even without knowing it, the closeness of God. It seems to us – said Romano Guardini – that ours is the time of distancing ourselves from God, in which the world is filled with things and the Word of the Lord diminishes; However, he states that “when the time comes—and it will come, after the darkness has passed—and the human being asks God: “Lord, where were you then?”, He will respond: “Closer to you than ever.” !” Perhaps God is closer to our icy times than he was in the Baroque, with the splendor of its churches, or in the Middle Ages, with the plenitude of its symbols, or in early Christianity, with its young courage before death (…). But He expects (…) that we remain faithful to Him through the distance.

From it a faith could emerge that is no less valid, in fact, perhaps purer, more robust in any case, than in times of interior wealth” (R. GUARDINI, Accept yourself, Madrid 2023, 67). Brothers and sisters, may the risen and ascended Lord give us the grace of rediscover hope, of announce hope and build the hope.