WORDS FROM FATHER YOHANES: No Neutrality in the Ascension

By Father Yohanes Akoit

Carl Jaspers once said that those who study history cannot remain neutral. They are called to carry the moral burden of history. He said this to remind people of the cruelty of Nazi Germany. For him, the cruelty of Nazi Germany was a tragedy; therefore, those who study that history cannot be neutral. If they remain neutral, that tragedy could happen again in our time. By saying this, Jaspers indirectly wants to tell all who are learned to carry the moral burden of the subjects they study. According to Jaspers, people cannot study or learn something merely for pleasure or to satisfy their thirst for knowledge. There is a responsibility that must be carried out while learning about something.

This idea applies to all Christian believers who celebrate the Ascension of the Lord into heaven (John 17: 1-11). Celebrating the solemnity of the Ascension means knowing what it is. Based on this, and according to Jaspers’ account, we who celebrate it cannot be neutral. We should know why the Ascension of the Lord happened and what it means for us as we celebrate it. If we remain neutral, then the background of why the Ascension took place could happen again in our time. And as we know, the event before the Ascension is the tragedy of the Cross. It happened because the disciples were neutral in responding to the teaching of Jesus. Now, by celebrating the solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, we automatically carry that responsibility. The nature of learning history places on us a task to fulfill in the present time.

One of the tasks we need to fulfill in our time is to accomplish and remain faithful to our commitments. At first glance, this task seems simple and easy, but in practice it is difficult to carry out. This also happened to the disciples of Jesus. They were sent to proclaim the Good News and to give witness to Christ, but they betrayed and denied Him. Because of this failure, the agony of the Cross took place. So, celebrating the solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord means carrying that moral burden. We need to keep in mind that denying any commitment we make brings consequences in life. There will be consequences for that failure, and repairing the damage will not be easy.

Responding to the nature of knowing history as Jaspers described, and applying it as we celebrate the Ascension of the Lord, there are two simple things we can put into practice. The moral burden we share comes from the experiences of St. Peter and Judas Iscariot. They betrayed and denied Jesus. Now, as we share that moral burden, we need to learn from their experiences. Regarding denial, as St. Peter did, we learn the lesson of acknowledging Jesus in every activity of our lives. Pray to Jesus in every circumstance: before and after meals, before and after driving, at the beginning and end of work, before and after study, and more. In all these activities, we need to remember Jesus through our prayer. By doing this, we truly make Jesus known as our King and Lord. On the contrary, failing to do this, parallels what St. Peter did in his time, we deny Jesus.

The moral burden we learn from Judas Iscariot is to respect and honor the dignity of Jesus. Judas betrayed and sold Jesus to the chief priests. From this, the virtue we need to develop is respect and honor for the dignity of Jesus: not speaking His name in vain and respecting the religious articles we have with us; Bible, rosary, prayer book, and more. Failing to do this is equal to what Judas Iscariot did in his time. Therefore, we are called to respect and honor the dignity of Jesus.

Father Yohanes Akoit is pastor of St. Julian and St. Anthony Catholic churches in Kentucky.