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Bishop's Homily for the Ascension of the Lord

May 17, 2026

(Atjanan Charoensiri / Shutterstock.com)

Homily of the Most Reverend Larry Silva, Bishop of Honolulu
[St. John Vianney Church, Kailua (Confirmation & First Communion); Holy Family Church, Honolulu (Confirmation & First Communion)]

“What would Jesus do?” is a saying that has become very popular. WWJD can sometimes be seen on bumper stickers, bracelets, and T-shirts. But I will confess that it is a saying I do not like very much. It’s purpose, of course, is to help us reflect on Jesus so that we can imitate him and be faithful disciples. But the reason I do not care for this saying is that it implies, “What would Jesus do IF he were still here?” It looks to the Jesus of the past. The reality, however, is that Jesus is still here. He is still active among us, and he is very much alive. Like the first disciples of Jesus who looked up to him as he ascended into heaven, we still may need angels who tap us on the shoulder and say, “Why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.”

In fact, just as Jesus, on the day of his resurrection, said to his disciples, “Peace be with you! Receive the Holy Spirit,” he is saying exactly the same thing today to those who are going to be confirmed. Yes, it is the bishop who will anoint you with Sacred Chrism saying, “Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit;” and then, “Peace be with you!” But I am only a sacrament or living sign of the risen Jesus, who speaks these words to you today. And just as Jesus met with his early disciples, who believed, but doubted still, so he meets with us. And even though our faith may be as weak as theirs was, it is still Jesus who sends us out to baptize – that is, soak or immerse the world – in the name of God himself, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Then this same Jesus who ascended into heaven is going to come down today as the Living Bread come down from heaven. He will be physically present to us today, as he is whenever we celebrate the Eucharist, so that he can enter into us in the most intimate and holy communion we can imagine. This same Jesus who ascended into heaven, still wants to come down to earth, with all its sinfulness and messiness, because he can never stop loving us.

Today you are initiated fully into the Body of Christ, so that the risen Jesus can do his work right here and right now. We do not ask “What would Jesus do?”, but “What is Jesus doing?” Because now he acts through us who are filled with his Holy Spirit and are in intimate communion with him.

Long ago, Jesus healed the sick. He does so today when we pray for the sick, visit them, and care for them in the name of the risen Lord Jesus. Long ago, he cast out demons; and we still do so today in his name when we turn people’s hearts from hopelessness to hope, from addictions to freedom, from self-hatred to self-love because we have loved them in the name of the living Lord Jesus. Long ago, Jesus went about preaching Good News, the Gospel of God’s love, and he does the same today whenever we reach out to the poor, the suffering, and the sinner, and let them know they can find light and love in Jesus here and now.

Perhaps more than ever we need these angels to tap us on the shoulder, and – even as we celebrate the Ascension of Jesus into heaven, remind us that he still comes down here on earth and still does his marvelous deeds through his living Body, the Church, into which you, my friends, will be fully initiated today.