Ascension of Christ is part of the mystery of Easter. It was the end of Jesus’ public
ministry and his physical presence transformed into a spiritual presence; Christ
became universally present to all creation. Ascension was the beginning of the mission
of the Spirit in the church; Spirit empowers our faith to become a life-changing
experience by remaining in Christ’s risen presence and personalizing his good news to
build the kingdom of God, his love, in our hearts and the hearts that we touch!
Ascension for us is a promise and hope, promise of our own vision of God, hope and
assurance of our communion with him [Jesus said: ’I will take you to myself, where I
am my servant also shall be’John 14:3; 12:26]. In the Ascension, God reveals ahead of
time something that is still hidden to our way of knowing.
St. Paul [Col. 3:1-2] says: ‘Look for the things that are above where Christ is’. The
ascension of Christ kindles in our hearts the love for heavenly things. It is said that if
we love we will see the mystery of God in everything. It means our life is an ascension
to greater fellowship with God. In his ascension, Christ is awakening in us, as people
created in the image of God, our capacity to ascend to God. This image in us is love,
the inner dynamism, which makes us, as Paul says: people who welcome each other in
love, who work for unity in the Spirit because of our common faith and baptism; we
cherish the bond of peace, a sign that the kingdom of God is present and active in us
and we journey with hope.
Easter and Ascension came after the crucifixion and death of Christ. In Christ’s
suffering, we see our own suffering and the woundedness of the world. By our faith in
the resurrection and ascension of Christ we say no to all that prevent us from
ascending to God. The Spirit constantly inspires in us hope and the energy for rebirth,
for a new beginning. Story of Josiane from Lebanon: she writes about the terrible
explosion at the port of Beirut in August 2020 [she was out of the country at the time].
She says: I felt pain, anger, anguish, sadness in my heart. I kept asking if all that
Lebanon had gone through already was not yet enough? I thought of
the neighborhood where I was born and grew up, now razed to the ground ; the
relatives and friends who were dead, injured or displaced; the buildings,
schools and hospitals that I know very well, all destroyed. I wanted to support the
people in my neighborhood with affection, prayer as I listen to them spoke of their
suffering. I wanted to believe and I do believe that these encounters with those who
suffer are a call to respond with the love that God has placed in our hearts. Despite the
tears, I discovered a light in the generous acts of many Lebanese people: it was often
the young people who emerged, looked around and brought help to those in need. I
felt a great sense of hope in seeing that there are young people who are willing
to seriously engage in changing our society for good and give all a sense that we are
brothers and sisters.” Ascension helps us to encounter our hearts deepest desires with
hope and give courage to our fellow travelers whose lives shattered by sorrow and
pain!
The Church now carries on the life of Christ in the world with power to heal, comfort
and redeem. We are not to be afraid of ‘poison or snakes’, a metaphor for misleading,
inhuman ideologies and godless systems; our task is to transform them and give hope
to the world; our faith is the rock on which we stand unshaken. May Christ’s promise to
be with us always restore our hope and draw us into renewed love!