On June 2, we celebrate the Feast of the Ascension, marking the day on which Jesus was taken up into heaven. According to the Acts of the Apostles, the event began at the Mount of Olives in the presence of the disciples: Jesus physically separated Himself from the Apostles to begin a new way of associating with them, which would be fully revealed in another ten days. So the Ascension serves as the prelude to Pentecost, when the power of the risen Christ came upon all believers through the Holy Spirit.
Scripture explains the purpose of the Ascension: St Peter says in his Pentecost sermon, Exalted thus at God’s right hand, he received the Holy Spirit from the Father as was promised (Acts 2:33). St Paul says that He … ascended far above the heavens, that he might fill all things (Ephesians 4:10). The writer to the Hebrews says that it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, blameless, unstained, separated from sinners, exalted above the heavens (Hebrews 7:26) now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf (Hebrews 9:24).
There are those who, although they themselves have never seen anyone ascending into Heaven, have chosen to disbelieve the Apostles’ account of what they saw, on the grounds of “implausibility.” After all, they say, astronauts do not report any sightings. But it was necessary for Jesus to be seen by His disciples to depart, other-wise they would have spent years searching for Him, instead of carrying out His Great Commission to Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News to all creation (Mark 9:15). Given the constraints of the physical world in which Jesus had chosen to dwell, there were limits to the direction of His departure from it: up seems as good a choice as any, and it has appropriate connotations for us. Consider how we speak of things “looking up,” and of people “moving up in the world”. The Ascension, like the Incarnation, is a God-drawn picture for us of our position in relationship with our great and gracious Lord. It is a witness and guarantee of our own bodily resurrection, as well as an invitation for us to set our hearts and minds on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God (Colossians 3:1-2).
So we pray, in the words of the Ascension Day collect, that we also may in heart and mind ascend to where Christ is, and with him continually dwell.
-Angie Forde, OblSB
