Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord
Ascension: A celebration of Hope
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Ascension. The danger of a feast like the feast of the Ascension is precisely this – that with Christ’s ascension into heaven we may think of God being up there, unconnected to the world here below. Perhaps we can spend all of life like the disciples gazing into the sky (Act 1:11). So I began writing this homily by asking myself the question. What significance does the ascension of Jesus hold for me today? What relevance can Ascension have for us today?
And here is my answer. I would like to discuss this in three points.
Origin and Destiny
First, the ascension of Jesus reveals our origin and destiny. Just the other day, I met with someone who has just crossed fifty. He has his own business, is wealthy, and has a family. That did not stop him from asking the same existential questions that most people at some point ask: “Is this it?” “What do I make of my life for the next fifty years?” I have been a priest for thirty-one years. And I keep asking the same question: “How should my priesthood be in the later years of my life?
Similarly, we are all confronted by the basic existential questions, are we not? “Who am I?” “Why am I here?” “Where am I going?”
The ascension of Jesus answers an existential question. The ascension of Jesus completes the story of our redemption. It is the final link in the chain of redemption. It tells us that Jesus not only came from God but also returned back to God. And for us, this means that, like Jesus, we know where we have come from and also where we are going. In other words, we know our origin and destiny. Life is not like a picnic. Life for a Christian is a deliberate, purposeful and meaningful living precisely because we know origin and our destiny. I will elaborate more on the meaning of life in my third point.
A Celebration of Hope
Second, ascension gives us hope. Let me read for you the prayer that St. Paul makes for the Ephesians 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….” (Eph 5:17-18). St. Paul is praying for two things for the Ephesians: the knowledge of God and the hope that comes from the knowledge of God.
Just this last Friday, I did a funeral for Daniel Notek. His parents, Denis and Linda Notek had two children. They lost their older son, Leonard, seventeen years ago in a plane crash. And now, they lost Daniel as suddenly as they lost Leonard. He died of a heart-attack. Dennis and Linda have lost both their children. I spoke to them privately just before the funeral Mass. I merely wanted to know their emotional state. If they were merely trying to hold it together, I did not want to say anything that would intensify their grief. Holding their hands and holding each other close, they merely say, “We just want God to bless our son. We just want to make sure he is going to be OK!”
At the homily, that is precisely what I did. I addressed the parents personally and said to them that God does not merely bless their son but offers him eternity. I promised them that as Jesus said in the gospel, their son is where Jesus is because that is the promise He made before he ascended to the Father (Jn 14:3). Jesus’ ascension tells us where Jesus is. At the end of Mass, tears flowing down her eyes, she hugged me tight and simply said, “Thank you!!”
I would not be able to offer hope to Dennis and Linda without the death, the resurrection, and ascension of Jesus. As Paul says, “we have the knowledge of God and the hope that comes from the knowledge of God.” We know that Jesus ascended to God, and we have the hope that one day we will be where Jesus has ascended. This hope is the gift of the feast of the ascension of Jesus.
A Celebration of Human Dignity
Finally, ascension gives us a new dignity. The scene at the end of today’s gospel reading is rather amusing. Jesus has slowly disappeared into the sky. The disciples are standing there… gazing into the sky. The angels come and tell them, “Why are you standing there looking at the sky? (Acts 1:11) The disciples are not meant to be like aimless people, gazing into the sky anymore. Thus far the disciples were learners – weak, groping, uncertain. That changed with the ascension of Jesus. Jesus gave them a new dignity and purpose. “You are witnesses to these things,” he said to them. Now they must be to others what Jesus was to them. They have now been made partners in the redeeming work of Christ.
The ascension of Jesus gives us a new dignity. From the time we enter this earth to the time we leave it, the meaning of our life comes from being, “witnesses of these things” - trying to think, to talk and to act like Jesus. The meaning and purpose of our life comes from making God shine forth through us. The meaning and purpose of life comes from facing life the way Jesus did. No matter who we are professionally, our life must imitate Christ’s life. We are witnesses of Christ - and that is the ultimate meaning of a disciple’s life.
The gospel reading ends with the words, “They did him homage.” (Lk 24:53) That is exactly where ascension of Jesus should lead us… to worship. At this Eucharist, let us not stand gazing into the sky like the disciples. Rather, let us move into the most profound and true worship human beings can offer God. Through this Eucharist let us “do him homage.”
- Fr. Satish Joseph