He Ascends to be in me Permanently
Acts 1:1-11; Eph 1:17-23; Lk 24:46-53 ( 6/ C )
"I
am ascending to my Father and your Father, my God and your God". Alleluia.
Today, our Liturgy celebrates the Ascension of the
Lord into heaven, 40 days after Easter. The Ascension of Jesus tells us that
the Lord has completed his earthly work of our redemption. Through his numerous
appearances to hundreds of people between the day of his Resurrection and the
day of his Ascension, Jesus proved two things: first, that he was the promised
Messiah who had come to redeem them. Secondly, he proved that those who
persevere in their living faith shall also overcome death and inherit the
Kingdom of God. They are assured that the Lord was with them and helped them in
their work.
Jesus is totally and forever reunited with the
Father. The actual words of Acts of the Apostles are that “a cloud took him
from their sight” (Acts 1:9). A cloud in the Scripture is the symbol for God,
just like the other symbols, like the thunder, lightning, mountain, wind, fire,
tent, and so on. So, the expression that a cloud took him away means that God
the Father took his incarnate Son back to himself. And that is also the meaning
of Mark’s Gospel that the “Lord Jesus…was taken up into heaven”. His going away
was forever, and they would not now find Jesus in the sky, up there in
“heaven”. They are now called upon to “lower their eyes” and look down to the
earth.
Today, on the feast of the Ascension, we remember the
“exaltation” of Jesus, as he is raised to share equal glory with his Father.
Jesus, before he leaves his disciples, gives them their mission. They will be able to do what Jesus himself
could not do: “He who believes in me will also do the works that I do, and
greater works than these will he do because I go to the Father” (Jn 14:12-13).
They will be able to preach the Gospel to the whole world. This mission
involves the call to evangelize and continue the healing work of Jesus. They
will receive the power from the Holy Spirit, and finally, they will never be alone.
Our Lord had instructed them to wait at Jerusalem for
the gift of the Holy Spirit (Lk 24:49; Acts 1:4-5). At Jerusalem, they waited
in expectation of the promised blessing. Has he not given us the same “exceeding
great and precious promises” that we can desire for body and soul for eternity?
Let us then wait for their accomplishment for our souls. In due time, “Jesus
will come again from heaven in like manner as he went to heaven” (Acts 1:11)
and then will that last promise be fulfilled, “I will come again and take you
to myself, that where I am, there ye may be also (Jn 14:3).” In the mean time,
he may find us with “our loins girt, and our lamps trimmed,” and ourselves as
those who “wait for the coming of their Lord!”
“Today
our Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven; let our hearts ascend with him.”
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