The Ascension
Full of Joy
After the Ascension of Jesus, the Apostles went back to Jerusalem full of joy. Why in the world would the Apostles rejoice at the definitive departure of Jesus? The Apostles knew Jesus ascended into Heaven.
Heaven is where God is. By the gift of the Holy Spirit, God dwells in your soul. Jesus lives within you. The Kingdom of Heaven is within you. This is the greatest reason to rejoice. If Jesus had not ascended to Heaven after the Resurrection, then we would have to go to him, wherever he would be on earth. We would always be separated from him by space – earthly distance. Because He has ascended into Heaven, He now dwells IN us, in our soul; the Father, Son and Holy Spirit now dwell in our soul; Jesus also dwells with us physically in the Eucharist. He has not gone away. He has ascended so that He could come in greater intimacy and closeness – this is why the Apostles rejoiced at Jesus departure. Do I, do you rejoice in the awareness that Jesus, in fact, the whole Trinity and Mary dwell in our soul as in a temple? Or do we live in forgetfulness of this exceedingly great reality and constant source of joy?
Jesus is present to us
In his book Jesus of Nazareth (Part Two) Pope Benedict XVI writes: The departing Jesus does not make his way to some distant star. He enters into communion of power and life with the living God, into God’s dominion over space. Hence he has not “gone away”, but now and forever by God’s own power he is present with us and for us. In the farewell discourses of Saint John’s Gospel, this is exactly what Jesus says to his disciples: “I go away, and I will come to you” (14:28).
These words sum up beautifully what is so special about Jesus’ “going away”, which is also his “coming”, and at the same time they explain the mystery of the Cross, the Resurrection, and the Ascension. His going away is in this sense a coming, a new form of closeness, of continuing presence, which…is a source of joy for the disciples. Because Jesus is with the Father, he has not gone away but remains close to us. Now he is no longer in one particular place in the world as he had been before the “Ascension”: now, through his power over space, he is present and accessible to all—throughout history and in every place.
Understanding the Ascension
There is a very beautiful story in the Gospel of Mark (Mk 6:45-52) where Jesus anticipates this kind of closeness during his earthly life and so makes it easier for us to understand. After the multiplication of the loaves, the Lord makes the disciples get into the boat and go before him to Bethsaida on the opposite shore, while he himself dismisses the people. He then goes “up on the mountain” to pray. So the disciples are alone in the boat. There is a headwind, and the lake is turbulent. They are threatened by the power of the waves and the storm. The Lord seems to be far away in prayer on his mountain. But because he is with the Father, he sees them. And because he sees them, he comes to them across the water; he gets into the boat with them and makes it possible for them to continue to their destination.
This is an image intended for us. The Lord is “on the mountain” of the Father. Therefore he sees us. Therefore he can get into the boat of our life at any moment. Therefore we can always call on him; we can always be certain that he sees and hears us. In our own day, too, the boat of the Church travels against the headwind of history through the turbulent ocean of time. Often it looks as if it is bound to sink. But the Lord is there, and he comes at the right moment. “I go away, and I will come to you”—that is the essence of Christian trust, the reason for our joy.
Receiving the Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Acts 1:6 Now having met together, they asked him, 'Lord, has the time come? Are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel?' He replied, 'It is not for you to know times or dates that the Father has decided by his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and then you will be my witnesses not only in Jerusalem but throughout Judaea and Samaria, and indeed to the ends of the earth'.
You and I received power when the Holy Spirit came upon us at our Confirmation, the moment when the Bishop, the successor of the Apostles with all the authority of Christ literally laid his hands on you and anointed you with the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit to be sent out on mission to help other people to Jesus through, yes, exactly, you know what I am going to say, through friendship, good conversation and yes, even the Rosary because it is the mission of the Holy Spirit and Mary to bring Jesus to us and us to Jesus. The Rosary is the greatest means.
Our mission
Our mission is more necessary today than ever. Why? Many people have taken on a bad habit over the last ten weeks, staying home instead of going to Mass and the sacrament of Reconciliation. A new habit has been established and habits rewire our brains. That is just the way it works. Once that habit is in place it is very hard to change it on your own.