A Homily for the Ascension of the Lord, 2009-B
Is Jesus’ Ascension into heaven an ending or a beginning? Does it now mean that Christ Jesus is now, even if only temporarily, absent from the world?
If we listen closely to the final words of today’s Gospel reading from St. Mark it is pretty clear that the Ascension of the Lord marks a beginning: “They went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.” So Jesus is clearly still present in the world, and with His Ascension He begins a new chapter in Salvation History – the Church.
If Jesus had remained on earth in His physical body, even resurrected from the dead, the Good News would be too limited. In assuming our human nature Jesus set aside His unlimited Glory, so to share in our limitedness, our finiteness. It is estimated that Jesus never traveled more than 100 miles from where He was born. In His physical, human body, He would be limited in how many people He could proclaim the Good News to. Also, His Apostles would remain merely followers; allowing Jesus to do all the real work of preaching.
In Ascending to Heaven, Jesus assures His Apostles that He will send them the Holy Spirit who will empower them to go to the ends of the earth, and to the end of time, proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ. In addition to being followers of Christ, the Apostles become Witnesses, spreading the Gospel far and wide. As the Mystical Body of Christ all the baptized become the hands of Jesus as they heal the sick, the voice of Jesus proclaiming the words of eternal life, the back of Jesus helping people carry the burdens of their lives. In the Church, which is the Mystical Body of Christ, the finiteness of Jesus’ physical body is now set aside so that His Infinite Glory, which He has had for all eternity, can shine out into the world.
The Ascension of our Lord also makes clearer our goal, our real destiny, what will make us ultimately happy, or as it is put in the Gospels, Blessed. While honoring the material world, Jesus always called His disciples to a deeper reality. He reminded them, and us, that our real home is heaven, and therefore we need to look at things in this world with spiritual eyesight. This supernatural – that is that which is above the natural – reality, perfect communion with Christ Jesus, is the ultimate destiny of every person. Yet we can become so distracted along the way by the more immediate things of this world. This is not to say that everything in the world is evil. No, God created the world so all in it is good, but we cannot allow the things in this world to distract us from our destiny. The people and things in this world should always be pointing us to Jesus, to our destiny. When they cease doing that, and become the focus of our desires instead, they become idols.
Let us not merely be people “standing there looking at the sky,” as the Apostles did at first when Jesus ascended into Heaven. Rather let us do the work of ministry, as St. Paul reminded us today, “for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God….”
