Feast of the Ascension
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
Today we celebrate the Ascension of the Lord. Our parish bears the name of this great mystery, so today is our parish feast day. It has traditionally been celebrated on a Thursday, 40 days after Easter, but for most of the Church in the U.S., the solemnity has been transferred to this Sunday.
The ascension of the risen Lord back into heaven is a great mystery, but also a glorious coming full-circle of the mystery of God’s becoming incarnate in Jesus. Have you ever pondered the implication of this whole plan of salvation that God has for us?
God is pure spirit; in other words, He does not have a body. He is invisible, yet not just an energy force, like “the Force” in Star Wars. God is personal – capable of relationship. Within this one God are three “persons”, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. We call them “persons” to describe their relationship to one another; in a sense, “who” they are.
If I ask you “who” you are, you will tell me your name. If I ask you “what” you are, you will answer, “a” human, since there are countless people who share the same human nature. But there is only one God, so if I asked each person of the Trinity “what” they are, they would each respond by saying “God”, not “a” God, but God.
The second person of the Trinity, the “Son”, the “Divine Word”, entered space and time; taking on human form in the womb of the Virgin Mary. He was born and we know Him as Jesus of Nazareth, fully human and fully divine. This Jesus is like us in all things but sin. He revealed to us the Truth and Love of the Father. He suffered and died for our sins, and He overcame death by rising from the dead. He rose in a glorified body. In other words, in a body that was real, but was somehow different than before the resurrection. A body with heavenly properties, you might say.
It is that glorified human body with which Jesus ascended back into heaven. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. That means that glorified human flesh, now dwells in the realms of heaven. Where the Risen Lord has gone, we hope to follow. We believe that if we remain faithful to Jesus that our bodies too will someday rise from the dead and be with God forever in a glorified state like Jesus’ risen body. Ponder that amazing mystery!
Sincerely yours in Christ Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life,
