A Mother’s Reflection on the Ascension

 “Where are you going?”
 “Why do you have to go?”
 “Why can’t I go with you?”
 “When are you coming back?”

As mothers, we’ve all heard these inquiries from our children at one time or another. We may recall the first time we left a child with a babysitter or dropped them off at school. Despite all our preparation and explanations, our departure may have stirred tears, fear, sadness, or confusion. We try to reassure a tearful child that he or she will be safe until our return, and yet they’re often left with more wonderings: “But…?” “What if…?”

Even as adults, isn’t life full of uncertainties? Where? When? Why? How?

My own prayers are often filled with these very longings. Even as I cling to God’s promises, knowing he loves me as his beloved daughter, I still find myself asking how a difficult situation will be resolved or when an answer will come. I yearn for clarity, for that rare “burning bush.”

Just as my children’s wonderings echo my own cries to the Lord, I imagine the apostles grappling with their own anxious seeking during the time of Jesus’s Ascension. Can you imagine being one of them? After living with Christ for over three years, hearing his preaching, witnessing his miracles, being present at the Last Supper, and even seeing his resurrected body, they still wrestled with uncertainties about what the Ascension meant for their mission and their future!

Their doubts didn’t frustrate or disappoint Jesus. Instead, he responded with patience. He continued forming their hearts, just as he had for the disciples on the road to Emmaus: “Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, [he] explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself” (Luke 24:27).

Jesus knows our limitations. He respects the time it takes for our hearts and minds to understand. Like children longing for reassurance, we want clarity so we can let go of fear, so we can trust when facing the unknown. And just as we comfort our little ones with love and presence, Jesus does the same for us. He gives us his Spirit to walk with us while we wait and wonder.

Before ascending to heaven, Jesus left the apostles with a promise and a plan. He instructed them “not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father’”(Acts 1:4). He told them to “stay in the city until [they were] clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49), a clear reference to the coming of the Holy Spirit.

In doing so, Jesus invited them into the very first novena, a nine-day period of prayer and attentive waiting, leading to Pentecost, the fulfillment of the hope sparked by his Ascension to the Father.

So, as Jesus “was taken up to heaven,” marking the end of his earthly ministry and the beginning of a new chapter for the Church, they did him homage and “returned to Jerusalem with great joy,” spending their days “continually in the temple praising God” (Luke 24:52–53).

They trusted.
They waited.
They prayed—even amid their uncertainties.
And the Holy Spirit answered.

Their surrender gives us a model. When we don’t have all the answers, we, too, can choose to trust, to wait, and to pray. 

A Prayerful Invitation: As we remember Jesus’ Ascension and the apostles’ call to wait in prayer, what uncertainties or unanswered questions can we bring to God today? How can we open our hearts to the Holy Spirit’s guidance while we wait?