In Christian art the Ascension of Jesus has often been depicted with the Apostles and Our Lady looking into the sky while Our Lord’s feet are disappearing into the clouds. You will see such a painting in this weeks newsletter. In the foreground you can see the imprint of Jesus’ two feet. This is a rather lovely way of showing how His body has moved into a different space—literally. Christ’s physical departure from the earthly realm and His ascension into heaven mark the end of His earthly mission. Just seeing the imprint of His feet highlights the tangible evidence of Christ’s presence and that His departure was a real event.
The Gospel for the Ascension stresses exactly this point. It makes clear that the leaving of Jesus as a result of the Ascension did not lead to an absence from His disciples. At the end of the Gospel, the disciples, and we, are told to go and be witnesses, to help give the saving Word of Jesus to the world. But, He guarantees to be with us as we do this.
Whilst the Ascension is undoubtedly a beautiful moment for Jesus, as He returns home, what does it mean for us? Surely the Ascension calls us to a deep desire to worship. The Scriptures tell us that after the Ascension of Jesus the disciples were to be found constantly in the Temple worshipping and praising God. Once they had witnessed the transforming of Jesus into this higher reality, into the life of God, they wanted to just worship Him. Our worship here below, the liturgy, the Mass is not just a celebration of ourselves, our life, our experiences. The liturgy is our participation now in the heavenly reality. From the beginning of the Mass—when we make sign of Cross—we are situating our lives in the dimension of the Trinity; we are staring upwards, hoping and longing for a participation in God’s life. So often in the liturgy we ask that our voices blend with those of the Heavenly Court. Here we anticipate the eternal (eschatological) banquet around the Throne of God. The Ascension awakens in us this liturgical desire, this desire to worship.
The paradox is that the more we think about Heaven the more we should be concerned about what happens on earth. Think of the figures of the twentieth century who made the great differences, the Saints, the holy men and women before us. The more they had their eyes fixed on things above, the more they made a difference to life on earth. It is always precisely those who worshipped and praised in the liturgy and looked upwards to the heights of Heaven, who could change things here below. These two worlds of earth and Heaven are mutually inclusive. The work of the Church only commences when Jesus leaves the dimension of space and time. When He ascends to Heaven He clears the space for us to do His work on earth.
With Mary, gathered with The Eleven in the Upper Room, from this day we can keep our eyes fixed on things above, awaiting the outpouring the Holy Spirit, so as to transform this world by what we worship here now.
A Beautiful homily-thank you for sharing it.