Luke 24:46-53
The Joy of the Ascension
by Rev. Robert J. Wagner
Reprinted with permission of "The Arlington Catholic
Herald"
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Written to explain that
Christ came to save everyone.
And
he said to them, "Thus it is written that the
Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that
repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all
the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.
And I am sending the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city until
you are clothed with power from on high." Then he led them as far as
Bethany, raised his hands, and blessed them. As he blessed them he parted
from them and was taken up to heaven. They did him homage and then
returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and they were continually in the temple
praising God.
St.
Luke’s account of Our Lord’s Ascension into heaven is rather terse: “He parted
from (the Apostles) and was taken up to heaven” (Lk 24:51). It is puzzling why
St. Luke offered so little description of this singular event in history and
great mystery of our faith. The next verses of Luke’s Gospel are puzzling as
well, for he wrote that after the Ascension, the apostles “returned to Jerusalem
with great joy, and they were continually in the temple praising God” (Lk
24:52-53).
Joy
is likely not an experience we associate with the departure of someone we love.
Would the apostles miss the Lord after He returned to the Heavenly Father?
Certainly. But Jesus promised them that He would not leave them abandoned after
His Ascension. For this the apostles, and we, too, are filled with joy.
Jesus
told the apostles, “Behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Mt
28:20). Even as He is seated at the right hand of Our Heavenly Father, Jesus
remains with all Christians, for He is the Head of the mystical body, the
church. Like the apostles, we all are united in Jesus Christ when we live
faithfully, serve others and follow His commands. Not only is He with us, but
when we act as Christians, Jesus works through us, offering His grace to
increase the love we have for Him and our neighbor.
Jesus
also remains with us in the sacraments, through which He welcomes us, nourishes
us, forgives us, heals us and strengthens us. We intimately receive Him — body,
blood, soul and divinity — in the Eucharist. We visit Him in the tabernacle and
the monstrance when we go to pray alone or with others in adoration. We
experience His tenderness when, through the priest, He speaks words of
forgiveness. Christ is never far from us when we seek Him.
Not
only that, but Jesus sends His Holy Spirit to live within us as well, as He
promised the apostles before His Ascension: “You will receive power when the
Holy Spirit comes upon you” (Acts 1:8). This promise is fulfilled at Pentecost
when the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, descends on the apostles just as He descends
on us at baptism, to dwell within us. Through the Holy Spirit, Jesus unites
Himself to us, enlivens us and fills us with peace and joy. The Spirit
transforms us and in doing so renews the church.
A
final reason for the apostles’ joy, and ours as well, is that the Ascension
foretells what will happen to us when Jesus comes again. Our Lord became man to
redeem humankind, yet He took on our flesh not only to free us from sin but also
to bring us to glory. Through Him, we see the promise of a resurrected and
glorified body. Through Him, we realize the body's final destination is not this
earth but rather in heaven, in the company of the Father and the Son. Through
our faithfulness to Jesus, He brings us to the place He has prepared for us in
heaven where we will experience a glory far beyond anything we could experience
in this life.
So,
while we are tempted to see the Ascension as a sad departure, the joy of the
apostles reveals it is instead the start of the new and more intimate way to
unite ourselves to Jesus. The Ascension is the initiation of Christ’s presence
in the sacraments and in His body, the church. It is the promise of the Holy
Spirit. It is the revelation of heaven as our end, where we will be reunited
with Jesus and all the saints, body and soul, in radiant splendor for all
eternity.
No,
the Ascension is not a time for tears. It is the beauty of Christ's promise that
we are never alone and the revelation of our future of unending joy. Today is a
day for jubilation. Christ has gone before us in glory. And He will return to us
in that same glory to fulfill all He has promised. Let us turn our eyes toward
heaven as the disciples did and go forth rejoicing in the Lord.
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