I don’t know about you, but I frequently feel a heaviness in my heart these days as I reflect on so many events that unfold around us. We’ve just passed the terrible milestone of 1 million deaths known to be caused by COVID-19 in our country; the number is in the millions around the world. We’re all gripped by the ongoing war in Ukraine, where unknown thousands have been killed. And just yesterday, our nation was rocked, once again, by a mass shooting, one more time in an elementary school where 19 people – including 17 little children – were senselessly gunned down. There is a deep sadness that I experience as I bring these tragedies before God in my prayers. We all cling to life and mourn when it is lost, especially unexpectedly and unnecessarily at the cruel hands of others.
Yes, life is precious, and we all strive to live our lives well. But, it’s really important to keep the final goal of our lives in mind as we make our everyday decisions about how we are to live and what our focus is to be. Today’s celebration of the Ascension of the Lord helps us to do that with a razor sharp vision. After all, our final goal is to follow where Jesus has gone after he was killed in a most cruel way – on a cross.
Today’s feast of the Ascension celebrates Jesus’ heavenly homecoming and his return to the Father’s house. It marks the completion of his earthly mission. He returns to heaven as a Savior, having conquered humanity’s greatest enemies – sin, Satan, and death – on the cross. During the days between his resurrection and ascent into heaven, the risen Christ appeared to his Apostles in various forms and in various places to assure them that he is, indeed, truly risen. He is not a ghost. They are not being haunted or experiencing a hallucination. He is really risen and now lives forever in glory.
As the ascending Jesus gives his commission to the apostles he leaves behind, their task is to convince and convict others of this same truth – that Jesus is risen and all who believe in him have the same opportunity to live again and forever. Death does not have a lasting grip on us. It is merely the doorway to heaven.
As Jesus makes his journey home to heaven, he promises he will send his Apostles the Holy Spirit of God and that he will return, at the end of time. What comfort that is for his apostles. It is easier to say good-bye to someone we love when we believe we will see them again. It is even better when they leave something behind by which we can remember them. At the Ascension, Jesus does both.
News of the coming of the Spirit and the hope of Jesus’ return made it much easier for the Apostles to let go of Jesus as he returns to heaven. Still, something was missing. The Apostles converted no one to the faith between Easter and the Ascension. Indeed, it was not until they received the promised Holy Spirit of God that they finally found their courage and their voice. Up until that point, they were afraid they would be the next ones to die for the faith. Once the Spirit proved to them that Jesus was alive, never to die again, they, too, found themselves willing to go forth and risk their lives to spread the Gospel. Once they were no longer afraid to die, the Apostles became less afraid to live.
Jesus gave the prophetic promise of the coming of the Holy Spirit both at the Last Supper and as he ascended. In both cases, he also stated he would come back again at the end of time to bring this world to its end and the kingdom of God to its fulfillment. We hasten his return in as much as we carry on the work he gave to the Apostles – to be disciples and make disciples.
It is worth noting that the gospel today reports that Jesus ascended from the village of Bethany, two miles from Jerusalem. It is the same place where he raised his friend Lazarus from the tomb immediately prior to Palm Sunday and his passion. Unlike Lazarus, who rose from the dead but then would die again, Jesus’ Resurrection was to eternal life.
In the Acts of the Apostles, the angels ask the Apostles why they are standing around looking at the sky, as if to suggest that time is wasting, get busy, there is a Gospel to preach, a Church to build, and a kingdom to prepare. The task given to them is the task entrusted to us by our baptism – to be his witnesses to the ends of the earth until he comes again.
By God’s grace, may we have all that Saint Paul prayed for in today’s second reading:
“May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a Spirit of wisdom and revelation resulting in knowledge of him. May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call, what are the riches of glory in his inheritance among the holy ones, and what is the surpassing greatness of his power for us who believe.”