‘Soon He will come back’

Excerpts of the homily
Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord | Ascension of the Lord Parish 16th Parochial Fiesta
May 28, 2017

Most Rev. Romulo G. Valles, DD, Archbishop of Davao, emphasized the message of the Lord’s ascension in his homily. “His ascension is our upliftment that warms our hearts,” he said.

“Let us go to the Ascension Parish because the liturgy is uplifting, small, intimate like that of the Broadway Play, very nice because things are prepared quite well in your parish. Your music is so beautiful. When you have that kind of music, we can connect to the reading – ‘God mounts his throne to shouts of joy, a blare of trumpets for the Lord.’ When I come here during ordination, music alone is worth coming.”

He added that celebrating faith of the church today is “a mystery that is refreshing, we come again and again, not tiring. Faith of the Church is so underline today when we recall the ascension of the Lord that at the end of the day, our target is to go to our Father’s house.”

He also noted that the Lord “shows us that the coast is clear, the highway is open, Heaven is open, He goes there.”

“I will go to my Father’s house and in my Father’s house, there are many rooms and I will prepare a place for you, Jesus said in the context of the Gospel of John. ‘I will go,’ that is today, but not yet finish, ‘I will come back and get you and bring you to my Father’s house.’ In that way, salvation history today, in faith, we recall in prayer, now he is going up to the Father, soon he will come back and keep us to the Father.”

In light of the recent events in Marawi City and the implementation of Martial Law in Mindanao, the Archbishop also emphasized that in the celebration of a fiesta, “We go through suffering. We go through darkness with overarching hope.”

Due to the terror looming over the southern part of the country, he called on everyone to “let them experience the love and salvation that the Lord has shown to us” by becoming like Christ to others, especially to the victims of terrorism and to the people behind the attacks.

“God speaks to us” and so he ended the homily by hoping that every one’s heart may see the power of God, the power of goodness that will triumph at the end.