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Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, Cycle A, 17 May 2026 Acts 1:1-11 ><}}}}*> Ephesians 1:17-23 ><}}}}*> Matthew 28:16-20
The past week is probably the most ugliest we ever have as a nation in recent years when power-hungry lawmakers seized power in the senate just to keep their cabals away from the legitimate powers of the legislature and international court.
Sorry for mentioning that this Sunday.
However, I hope you also find consolation in our celebration today of the Solemnity of the Ascension of Jesus who invites us to examine the true meaning of “power” that was mentioned four times in the three readings we have heard:
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).
and what is the surpassing greatness of his power for us who believe, in accord with the exercise of his great might, which he worked in Christ, raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavens, far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion, and every name that is named not only in this age but also in the one to come (Ephesians 1:19-21).
Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behod, I am with always, until the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20).
How timely that we reflect this Sunday the “power” claimed by Jesus Christ as given to him and now shared with us his disciples after returning to heaven.
As Jesus concludes his earthly existence with his Ascension, let us go back to his ministry to reflect the different aspects of his power that we must imitate as his disciples.
First we find in Jesus is the power of prayer. He was always in prayer that even his disciples were so impressed and asked him to “teach them how to pray”. More than the words to say in praying, Jesus taught us the very attitude in praying: it is not forcing ourselves to God but submitting ourselves to God we call Father by recognizing one another as brothers and sisters.
Prayer for Jesus is power because it is primarily a relationship with God expressed in our relationship with each other. His ascension need not be taken literally as if Jesus was like a rocket launched into space; his ascension is more like a “leveling up” in his relationships with us and the the Father. For us to ascend like Jesus Christ through prayer means for us to be “lighter” by letting go of our selves, of our pride.
Prayer is power because it leads us to self-emptying (kenosis) that we become more loving and respectful of others, not manipulative; truthful and honest, not liars; and, more just and respectful of laws.
The more we pray, the more we see God and others as brothers and sisters that we work for peace and unity, not divisions and chaos because ultimately, prayer is power as it makes us find life not death as Jesus exemplified on the Cross.
Simultaneous with the power of prayer, we find in Christ the power of love and respect for persons.
It is one of his radical teachings, an integral part of his gospel of salvation of loving one another as he had loved us, of giving up one’s life for a friend, of finding God on the face of every one. Even among enemies!
It is power because when we love and respect every person, that is when we establish the kingdom of heaven here on earth. Love and respect for persons as power is prayer in action through our loving service for others.
Clearly, it is one power we lack so much in the country especially in government when officials are deep into corruption. Its most tragic part is at how people mostly the poor have allowed corruption to persist because they themselves could not love and respect their very selves, refusing to see beyond the material world. For them, man lives to eat. Then die. They would not even raise up their heads to look high above the clouds to dream and dare in life, to believe and hope in God.
Because sadly, many refuse to recognize the very power of Christ which is the Cross.
Because of the Cross, there is Easter. And then Ascension.
Without the Cross, nothing.
That is why for many life has become more of a mess, empty without meaning because they believe power is strength and force, of control and manipulation. Most of all, of subjugation.
Christ showed us in his Cross that life is always larger than what we see or even perceive as it is. Life is so wide and vast, so high and so deep we can never hold nor contain. Or even understand and explain.
Life is meant to be lived not solved at all. We hear it often said, “let go, let God.” Notice in this saying how the single letter “d” leads to the transition, transformation. That small letter “d” stands for our little daily deaths.
It is here we find the power of the Cross: when we surrender and submit, the world opens, we see more options, we see more life; when we suffer and cry, when we get hurt and bruised, we learn to stop and wait until healing comes and then we are renewed.
Most of all, when we experience those little deaths in taking our cross, in dying on the Cross of Jesus, that is when we find our greater self, when we experience Christ in us who had conquered sin and death because he is life himself. That is when we find true power because that is when we rise and ascend in Christ.
Events happening lately in our country and in the world, and most especially in our very lives do not look so nice and good. Even dismal. But, Jesus reminds us this Sunday of his true powers that enable to rise, to ascend in him. Most of all, he promised to be with us always. As we come nearer to the closing of Easter Season, let us ask anew ourselves and him how we can live out this new level of relationship in him, with him and through him. Let us wait in prayers to discover too his powerful answer. Amen.
