Just like our belief in the resurrection of our Lord, Christ’s ascension into heaven is a mystery of faith rooted in history and spoken of in Scripture. The Ascension is presented both at the end of Matthew’s Gospel and at the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles. The Ascension is the completion of the Easter mysteries of Jesus’ life, passion, death and resurrection, the final step before the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, which we will celebrate next weekend.
One of things I have enjoyed during my five years here at St Jude is my participation in the Pearl Ministerial Association, in which all the pastors of the churches in Pearl get together for fellowship and collaboration in different ways. A couple of weeks ago, the Ministerial Association started a Bible study with Mayor Jake Windham of Pearl. At that first meeting we read the first chapter of Acts, of which we hear in our first reading today, of Jesus ascending into heaven as the apostles look on, of Jesus being lifted up in a cloud, taken out of their sight. In our discussion about that reading, one of the Baptist pastors in the group asked the others if they ever preach about the Ascension at their Sunday church services. Most of them said that they did not preach about the Ascension very often. He noted that the Ascension was an important reality of our faith that perhaps is not discussed very much in Protestant churches. Since we Catholics celebrate the Ascension as a major feast day in the season of Easter each year, I found that comment quite curious.
So we might ask ourselves today: In actuality, what are we celebrating on the feast of the Ascension? At its core, the Ascension signifies a transition of the risen Christ to the exalted Christ, in which there is a real difference. In the 40 days after Jesus’ resurrection, he spent time with his disciples in his resurrected body. While the risen Christ was in a glorified state to an extent, as he could defy normal physical human limitations such as appearing in a locked room and going through walls and locked doors, Jesus’ glory was not yet completely fulfilled. It is only when Jesus takes his place at the right hand of the Father in heaven after his ascension that he truly becomes exalted, an honor that had long been foretold by the prophets in the Old Testament. Jesus makes an allusion to the difference between his risen state and his ascended state in John’s Gospel, as he encounters Mary Magdalene outside the empty tomb, stating: “Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father.” Indeed, the paschal mystery which includes Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection, is not complete without the ascension.
We might ask ourselves today: is Christ’s work done now that he has ascended to the heavens? Christ our Lord is in the heavens in the presence of God the Father. He has the marks of his crucifixion still on him. His redemptive sacrifice is presented everlastingly. His wounds continue to plead for the salvation of all. In heaven, Jesus presents himself, once slain, as now Lord over death, to God the Father for our redemption. When we celebrate Mass, though the presence of the priest of the Church, Christ offers his same self, once slain, truly present on the altar. He presents himself to the Father for our redemption. We the members of the Body of Christ participate with him in the Mass. The Ascension gives us Jesus as our permanent Intercessor. He gives us hope that one day we too may go to the Father. As the priest offers the holy sacrifice of the Mass here on earth, interceding for us so that we might receive Christ’s body and blood, Jesus is our High Priest who intercedes for us in heaven.
An important lesson we can also take away from the feast of the Ascension is that we definitely have work to do as Christ’s disciples before we leave this earth. When Christ left us, he made it clear that he wanted us to continue the work that he began. The Angels ask the apostles as they watch Jesus ascend into the heavens: Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky?” Before ascending, Jesus told them that through the Holy Spirit, his disciples will be able to be his witnesses not only in Jerusalem, but to the end of the earth as well. Right before Jesus’ ascension, the disciples ask him if he at this time is going to restore the kingdom to Israel. They still have a lot of questions about what the kingdom of God is about. They still have a lot to figure out. But soon, the Holy Spirit will be with them in a special way to lead them and guide them, to energize and guide their missionary work in spreading the Gospel, and with the establishment of the Early Church. Through all those experiences, the apostles will definitely learn what his kingdom of God is all about. While we see glimpses of his kingdom here on earth, while his kingdom still has not achieved its fulfillment, the preface to the Mass of Christ the King at the end of the liturgical year tells us what his kingdom is all about: An eternal and universal kingdom: a kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness and grace, a kingdom of justice, love, and peace. That is the kingdom we are to work toward in all that we do. In all that we have going on in our parish, we are keep these attributes of God’s kingdom in mind: in our parish artisan guild and the Carmelite secular group that met in our parish this weekend, in the Knights of Columbus that met last week, in our prison ministry at the state prison in Pearl, in the deacon aspirants and candidates who meet here monthly at St Jude, in the children getting ready for Vacation Bible School, in the youth getting ready for their trip to St Meinrad in Indiana, in the faith formation and evangelization programs we are planning for the fall. In all that we do, how are we proclaiming the attributes of God’s kingdom, how are we continuing with the work of our ascended Lord? These are good questions for us to ask as we celebrate the feast of the Ascension of our Lord today.
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