The mystery of the Ascension has to do with holding in tension a sense of God’s nearness, along with the burden caused by apparent signs of absence. The risen Jesus says to Mary Magdalene, “Do not cling to me,” perhaps pointing out to her that his physical presence to the disciples was time‑bound and temporary. It was a gift for their transformation, and after forty days, he vanished from their sight and hearing, though never out of their consciousness.
They do not mourn at his going this time: there is no trace of the disciples who hid in fear at his crucifixion, no sense of the women who wept softly as they carried ointments to the tomb through the dewy morning light. Instead, the scriptural accounts show them full of joy, comforted by his promise to be with them forever, and open to the Spirit’s power. They are joyful, energized, aware, and united with one another in love. They seem to grasp an awareness that if the mission to the whole world was a serious one, then the presence of the Risen Christ could not be pinned down to any one place or time but had to be always and everywhere completely available. All people, all times, all cultures were opened to receive him in this moment of the Ascension. The energy of this feast is drawn not from absence, but renewed and deeper presence. — James Field
La Ascensión del Señor
Entre galas y desfiles primaverales, en San Antonio, Texas hoy comienza el famoso “Fiesta Week” conmemorando la batalla del Álamo. Esta semana larga de diez días y ciento veinte eventos es una secularización de la antigua tradición latinoamericana de “Fiestas patronales” que celebran al santo patrón o santa patrona o la virgen patrona de un oficio o actividad; de un pueblo o región. Estas fiestas son tan populares en naciones latinas que normalmente se tienen varias de ellas durante el año. Puerto Rico, por ejemplo, tiene algunas setenta y cinco fiestas patronales.
Cada año las regiones celebran a su santo patrón o a su santa patrona con un fin de semana o una semana entera de misas, danzas, competencias, procesiones religiosas, verbenas, kermeses y banquetes seglares. Estos eventos se han ido desarrollando a través de los siglos y son un mestizaje de costumbres, colorido y creencias europeas, indígenas y africanas.Muchísima gente recorre a las fiestas patronales buscando divertirse. Lamentablemente entre tanto festejo es fácil olvidar al patrón o la patrona, que no solo debe ser celebrado, debe ser imitado para la gloria de Dios, el verdadero Patrón de todos. — Fray Gilberto Cavazos-Glz, OFM
