A Little While: Trusting the Silence of Ascension

There are moments in life when God feels closer than our breath, nearer than our thoughts. But there are also seasons when heaven feels silent, and we ask, like the disciples did, “What does this mean?”

On this Ascension Day, we listen again to Jesus’ tender, mysterious words:

“A little while and you will no longer see me,
and again a little while later and you will see me.”
(John 16:16)

To the disciples, this must have sounded like a riddle. He had already spoken of His departure, His return to the Father, and the promise of the Spirit. But here, the timeline was foggy. A little while. What does that even mean in the face of uncertainty, pain, or separation?

Jesus doesn't scold them for their confusion. Instead, He lovingly acknowledges their grief:

“You will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices;
you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.” (v. 20)

It’s a promise we still cling to today.

The Ascension marks a turning point—not a farewell, but a deeper invitation. Jesus is no longer visibly present in the way He was before. He ascends, not to leave us behind, but to draw us higher—to help us look beyond what our eyes can see.

In our own “little whiles”—the in-between spaces of our lives—we often feel the tension of absence. We wait. We wonder. We grieve. Yet Jesus reminds us that these moments are pregnant with transformation. Grief will give birth to joy. Absence will make space for Presence.

This is not the joy of forgetting or replacing sorrow—it’s the joy of resurrection, of seeing with new eyes, of receiving the Spirit who makes Jesus present in every believer, every Eucharist, every act of love.

So today, as we commemorate the Lord’s Ascension, we ask for grace to trust the “little while.”
To believe that when Jesus seems hidden, He is preparing something new.
To hold onto hope in seasons of grief, knowing joy is coming.
To remember that absence is not abandonment—it is an invitation to deeper faith.

He is with us. He is for us. And in a little while… we will see Him again.