Column: Ascending to Heavenly Glory

Greetings to all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ on the Seventh Sunday of Easter, and happy Mother's Day to all St. Michael mothers. What an incredible blessing and gift each of you are!

Today we also celebrate the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, which is the focus of the first reading from Acts l and the Gospel from Mark 16. The Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ, that "He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father into heaven," is an important article of faith and something that we profess every Sunday in the creed. Yet, like other claims of the Christian Faith, the Ascension can be a challenging belief for our modern ears. We hold a very different view of the cosmos than the ancient peoples from the world of the Bible. More than that, we have put men on the moon, sent exploratory crafts across our solar system, and have even landed ships on other planets. How then are we to understand the Ascension?
 
St. Luke tells us that Jesus "was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight," and St. Mark states that he "was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God." (Acts 7:9, Mk.16:79) What the biblical writers are telling us is that the Ascension was the moment when Jesus departed from this world and entered the realm of heaven, which is not contained in our world of space and time. The reality of an invisible spiritual domain is affirmed in the first sentence of the creed in which we profess that "I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible." Catholic writer Terrye Newkirk helps us to understand all this more clearly; "We must keep in mind that time and space are finite concepts; God is not bound by them, nor could God live in one physical place, as we think of it, because the physical universe is his creation and cannot contain him. Heaven is a place, but not a particular space ... As the Catechism says (CCC 7024), 'This perfect life with the Most Holy Trinity--this communion of life and love with the Trinity, with the Virgin Mary, the angels and all the blessed--is called 'heaven.' Heaven is the ultimate end and fulfillment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme, definitive happiness" (Catholic Answers, "Is Heaven a Place or Only a State of Mind?").

So why is the Ascension such an important event? What does it mean that Jesus entered heaven and took his place at the "right hand of God?" The Catechism of the Catholic Church gives us three reasons for the significance of the Ascension. First, we are told that "Christ's Ascension marks the definitive entrance of Jesus' humanity into Cod's heavenly domain, whence he will come again" (CCC 665). The incarnate Son of God who is fully divine and fully human, now in the glory of his resurrected body, has entered the magnificence of heaven. Christ now shares completely in the Father's authority, power, judgment, and honor, and it is from there that he will return in his glorious Second Coming.

The second reason is that "Jesus Christ, the head of the Church, precedes us into the Father's glorious kingdom so that we, the members of his Body, may live in the hope of one day being with him forever" (CCC 666). We ourselves, as his children, are called to the hope of eternal life and heavenly glory where "no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him" (l Cor. 2:9). Heaven is our hope and our desired end.

Finally, that "Jesus Christ, having entered the sanctuary of heaven once and for all, intercedes constantly for us as the mediator who assures us of the permanent outpouring of the Holy Spirit" (CCC 667). Jesus, ascended to eternal glory, is now our heavenly high priest who intercedes for us; "For Christ did not enter into a sanctuary made by hands, a copy of the true one, but heaven itself, that he might now appear before God on our behalf" (Heb. 9:24).

Let us pray: "Jesus, I honor You on the feast of Your Ascension into heaven. I rejoice with all my heart at the glory into which You entered to reign as King of heaven and earth. When the struggle of this life is over, give me the grace to share Your joy and triumph in heaven for all eternity."