Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord
On the fortieth day after the Solemnity of the Lord's Resurrection we celebrate the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord, which is not a movement in time and space, but commemorates the last Christophany - the last revelation of the Risen Jesus to the Apostles. This event took place on the Mount of Olives, about 1 kilometer away from Jerusalem.
Here are the words in which the Evangelists communicated this event to us. St. Mark summarizes them in one sentence: “So then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them, was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God." (Mk 16:19), St. Luke says similarly: “Then he led them [out] 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 ..." (Lk 24, 50-52). In the Acts of the Apostles we can find a much more precise description of the Ascension: “When he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight. While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.” Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olives which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. "(Acts 1: 9-12). Jesus instructed the Apostles not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the fulfillment of the coming of the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 1: 4-5). After returning to Jerusalem, the Apostles “devoted themselves with one accord to prayer, together with some women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers." (Acts 1:14)
The solemnity of the Ascension in the early Church was connected with the mystery of the Pentecost. It was only from the 4th century that a separate solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord was adopted in the whole Church. It is confirmed by St. Augustine (+430) when he writes: "Today, this solemnity is celebrated allover the world".
Ascension is the day of Christ's royal enthronement, the triumph that God the Father prepares for his Son. Hence a lot of joy in the liturgical texts: "all peoples, clap your hands - says the Responsorial Psalm - shout to God with cries of gladness... the LORD, amid trumpet blasts. Sing praise to God, sing praise; sing praise to our king, sing praise". On the other hand, in the collect, the celebrant exclaims: "Make us rejoice, because the ascension of your Son is our victory." Finally, the preface speaks of the joy of the faithful and of the whole world. The appearance of the enthroned Messiah awakens the angels' an astonishment and admiration: "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches, wisdom and strength, honor and glory and blessing” (Rev 5:12). Jesus receives a name that is above all names (cf. Phil 2: 9). God appoints Jesus “far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion, and every name that is named not only in this age but also in the one to come” (cf. Eph 1:20).
Here, let us remember the words of Pope St. Leo I the Great: "Today, beloved, it is the fortieth day, destined by the most holy judgment for our salvation, that our faith may be strengthened by the sight of the risen body ... For today we have not only been strengthened by possessing heaven, but we have elevated higher by the grace of Christ, which we have not lost through Satan‘s jealousy. For as a fierce enemy has thrown us from heavenly possessions, so the Son of God places us together as his brothers at the Father's right side. "
The Ascension of the Lord is the guarantee of Christ's second coming: " This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven" (Acts 1:11). Christ will return for the final triumph of good: he will return to give to his Father everything, to gather everyone and everything in the universal Church of God (cf. Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, 2). He will come to repeat the ingress of all redeemed mankind to the house of the Father of all creation, from whom everything comes. “Behold, I am coming soon. I will bring with me the recompense that I will give to each according to his deeds. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. “(cf. Rev 22: 12-13).
"The Lord enters heaven in joy ... In this mystery of Christ's life - as John Paul II explains - we dwell on the glory of Jesus of Nazareth, dead and risen, on the other hand, his departure from the earth and his return to the Father. Christ's Ascension is one of the main stages of the "history of salvation", the plan of God's merciful and saving love for mankind”. Saint Thomas Aquinas, in his reflections on the mysteries of the life of Christ, with his insight and clarity, astonishingly shows that - the ascension is the cause of our salvation in two aspects: on our part, because our thoughts turn to Christ in faith, hope and love; on his part, because by ascending to Heaven, He also prepared the way for us; He is our Head - so he allows the members of his body to follow him where he preceded them”.
The Ascension is not only the final and solemn exaltation of Jesus of Nazareth, but also the pledge and guarantee of the exaltation, glorification of human nature. Today our faith and hope of Christians are strengthened and confirmed, because we are invited not only to meditate on our own littleness, weakness and poverty, but also on this more wonderful change greater than the very work of creation, the "transformation" which Christ preforms in us when we are united with him through grace and the sacraments.
The moment, when Jesus leaves the Apostles, he leaves them the mission to be His “witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (cf. Acts 1: 8) and to proclaim to all nations “repentance, for the forgiveness of sins. (…) You are witnesses of these things” (cf. Lk 24:47).
(...) Let it be so!
Until Tomorrow
fr. george