The Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord
Dear brothers and sisters,
It seems a strange question to ask of the Apostles: “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky” (Acts1:11)? They had just seen Jesus “lifted up” and taken from their sight” (Acts1:9). The one to whom they devoted three years of their lives “blessed them [and] parted from them and was taken up to heaven” (Luke 24:31). They had never seen this happen with anyone else. What else were they supposed to do except stare up in wonder and awe? What would you have done?
MS M.648 fol. 123v
There is an important lesson for us in Jesus’ Ascension into heavenly glory, one we too often overlook; it is the importance of the human body. If the creation of the human body by God was not enough for us to recognize the dignity of the human body; if the breath of God being breathed into the human body to enliven it was not enough for us to recognize the dignity of the human body; if the only Son of God taking on human flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary was not enough for us to recognize the dignity of the human body; then surely the fact that the Son of God and Son of Mary took his human flesh with him into heaven should be enough to make us understand the dignity of the human body. It is so important that Jesus did not leave it behind or discard it; he took it with him because, being human, he could not do otherwise.
Today’s Solemnity, aside from highlighting an important moment in the life of the Lord, focuses our attention on what it means to be human: “The human person, created in the image of God, is a being at once corporeal and spiritual.”[1] To put it perhaps more simply, to be human is to be a union of body and soul. This is why the Second Vatican Council said,
Man, though made of body and soul, is a unity. Through his very bodily condition he sums up in himself the elements of the material world. Through him they are thus brought to their highest perfection and can raise their voice in praise freely given to the Creator. For this reason man may not despise his bodily life. Rather he is obliged to regard his body as good and hold it in honor since God has created it and will raise it up on the last day.[2]
This is why the sin of abortion is so unspeakably horrendous and why turning someone’s earthly remains into jewelry is so dreadful; both deny the God-given dignity of the human body. This is also why the sin of physician-assisted suicide or so-called euthanasia – literally, “good death” – is so unspeakably horrendous.
This past Thursday, the Illinois House of Representatives debated SB1950, a piece of legislation titled, “Sanitary Food Preparation.” Despite being described as “AN ACT concerning health,” much of the bill concerns the enshrinement in law of a medical doctor’s legal ability to violate the Hippocratic Oath he or she took to do no harm; instead, the legislation seeks, at the patient’s request, to allow physicians to do great harm by prescribing medication to actively kill his or her patient.
What does a food sanitation bill have to do with suicide, you might ask. Nothing, except by way of a legislative amendment; namely House Amendment 2, which is nearly eleven times as long as the original bill. SB1950 cleared the House of Representatives on a purely partisan vote; it now moves to the Illinois Senate for approval by that body before going to the Governor’s desk.
Before I say more, let me first say a word to those who have contemplated or attempted suicide: “May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call” (Ephesians 1:18). You are loved by God. You have been made in love, by love, and for love. Loved suffered for you. Love died for you. Love rose from the dead for you. Love ascended into heaven for you. Love did all this so you might know how very much you are loved.
At his inaugural Mass, Pope Leo XIV proclaimed, “Brothers and sisters, this is the hour for love!”[3] This is truly the hour for us to love each other, especially those who live without hope. This is the hour for us to open ourselves to receive love from one another and from God. This is also the hour for us to share love with those who feel far away from love.
Even as the government rightly puts resources behind suicide prevention – and has even recently created a mental health hotline to prevent suicides – the General Assembly wants to legalize one form of suicide. What sense does this make? How can any suicide be justified and encouraged?
The State of New York is also considering legalizing euthanasia, which led Timothy Cardinal Dolan to point out this legal double-standard:
I can’t help but shake my head in disbelief at the disparity in official responses. Our government will marshal all its resources to save the life of one hopeless and despondent man. Yet it may conclude that some lives aren’t worth living — perhaps due to a serious illness or disability — and we will hand those despondent women and men a proverbial loaded gun and tell them to have at it.[4]
The Archbishop of New York urged lawmakers to prevent - and not to assist - suicide.
Here in Illinois, Blase Cardinal Cupich, the Archbishop of Chicago, also called out the double standard in healthcare, saying:
I have to ask why, in a time when growing understanding of the deteriorating mental health of the U.S. population – and particularly among our youth – caused the country to create the 988 mental health crisis line, we would want to take this step to normalize suicide as a solution to life’s challenges. While the bill sets parameters for assisted suicide, the data from places where assisted suicide is available are clear. Rates of all suicide went up after the passage of such legislation. These rates are already unacceptably high, and proposed cutbacks in medical care funding will add to the burden faced by those contemplating suicide.[5]
It makes no sense at all to encourage people away from suicide by means of a weapon or a bridge and at the same time to tell them they may commit suicide through a physician.
House Amendment 2 purports to deal with “the full range of end-of-life care options;” what it actually amounts to, however, is purposeful and sanctioned medical killing.[6] No sane person who understands the human person as a union of body and soul could ever refer to killing someone as “end-of-life care.” Even the government does not do this, which is why the mental health hotline exists.
Wherever such legislation has been passed, both within and without the United States of America, physically and mentally ill patients have been pressured to commit suicide with the help of a doctor to save money or to no longer be a burden on others. Let us remember: no human being is ever to be looked upon as a burden, but as someone to be loved, someone made in the image and likeness of God with an inherent value, dignity, and worth that cannot be taken away. This must be stressed in every moment of life, especially when life seems unbearable.
If we consider today’s Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, we can learn another important lesson in addition to the sacredness of the human body: the importance of being with the Father, for Jesus took his human body to the right hand of the Father (cf. Ephesians 1:20).
…there is no doubt at all of what mattered most to Christ – his Father. The first word we hear from him is, “Didn’t you know I must be in my Father’s house?” The last word before he died on the Cross was, “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit.” The first message he sent to the Apostles after his Resurrection was, “I ascend to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” A good hundred times we find him talking of or to his Father. He makes him the object of his life: “I do the will of him that sent me”; he makes him the object of ours: “No one comes to the Father but by me.” At death our welcome will be, “Enter into the joy of my Father.”[7]
But such a welcome cannot be ours if we have not died in friendship, in communion, with our Father, with his Son, and with their Holy Spirit.
The Father clearly commands, “You shall not kill” (Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17). Jesus takes this command a bit further yet. In no uncertain terms, Jesus says, “The Father and I are one” (John 10:30). So it is that Jesus also commands us not to kill (cf. Matthew 5:21-22). Because Jesus is “the way and the truth and the life,” anything directly contrary to his commands and teachings must be opposed (John 14:6). Jesus says to us, “You are my friends if you do what I command you” (John 15:14). If we wish to die in friendship with God and be welcomed into the Father’s house, we must die in friendship with Christ; we must keep his command against killing.
The Church strongly opposes physician-assisted suicide because each of us, body and soul united, “is the result of a thought of God. Each of us is willed, each of us is loved, each of us is necessary.”[8] It remains for us never to forget this, and to help others know it. Amen.
[1] Catechism of the Catholic Church, 362.
[2] Gaudium et Spes, 14 § 1; in Catechism of the Catholic Church, 364.
[3] Pope Leo XIV, Homily, 18 May 2025.
[4] Timothy Cardinal Dolan. In Tyler Arnold, “Cardinal Dolan Urges New York lawmakers: ‘Prevent, don’t assist, suicide,” Catholic News Agency, 30 May 2025. Accessed 30 May 2025. Available at https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/264451/cardinal-timothy-dolan-urges-new-york-lawmakers-prevent-dont-assist-suicide-in-op-ed?fbclid=IwY2xjawKn2XBleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFGOFVvZGF2Zm9sNDc2M3NaAR6v0_KMMvOi__FohiD5wFGRk3mzzlw-oVevyh8MP9k3Yl1w2wTc4zXDU6sUtg_aem_jiQP_QeXyLzoTr1fENAxZw
[5] Blase Cardinal Cupich, “Statement of Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, archbishop of Chicago, on SB 1950 Assisted Suicide Bill.” Accessed 30 May 2025. Available at https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1AsuXutzGY/
[6] House Amendment 2, Section 5(a)(2). Accessed 30 May 2025. Available at https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=10400SB1950ham002&GA=104&SessionId=114&DocTypeId=SB&LegID=161335&DocNum=1950&GAID=18&SpecSess=&Session=
[7] Frank J. Sheed, Christ in Eclipse: A Clinical Study of the Good Christian (San Francisco: Ignatius Press), 25.
[8] Pope Benedict XVI, Homily, 24 April 2025.
