The feast of the Ascension is typically celebrated forty days after Easter. We know Jesus ascended forty days after His death and resurrection based on today’s first reading (Acts 1:1-11). This day usually falls on a Thursday; however, the Church can celebrate the solemnity of this Feast today, the seventh Sunday of Easter.
Christ’s ascension into Heaven is a separate and beautiful event that we should and do celebrate in the Church. While at the Resurrection, Christ’s body was glorified, His full glory “remains veiled under the appearance of ordinary humanity.” [1] The full manifestation of his glory is shown to his Apostles at His ascension.
What did the ascension do? As we stated, forty days after Jesus resurrection He ascended to heaven body and soul. The Ascension means the final elevation of Christ’s human nature into the condition of divine glory. It is the final work of redemption for Jesus. In accordance with the Church’s common teaching, the souls of the just from the pre-Christian era went with our Lord into the glory of heaven. Jesus’ Ascension is also the promise of our own ascension into Heaven one day. [2]
Where did Christ ascend into heaven? After forty days with His disciples, Jesus ascended into Heaven from the Mount of Olives; the same place where He had His agony in the Garden. Jesus shows this location for two reasons; First, this is where the beginning of His suffering and death. It is also the place where he accepted His cross to show us where we must endure our crosses. If we accept our crosses daily with patience and humility then we too will receive our ultimate reward in the end as He did. One of the first things Jesus taught the disciples on the road to Emmaus was the marriage between suffering and glory. On the road to Emmaus, He asked the disciples, “Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” [3] This was a lesson the apostles and disciples of Christ would learn very quickly as they encountered persecution. Saint Paul and Saint Barnabas “…strengthen the spirits of the disciples and exhorted them to persevere in the faith, saying, ‘It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God.’” [4]
How did Christ ascend into heaven? Jesus Christ ascended into heaven by His own power. He could do this because He is fully God. He is the King of the entire universe and now sits at the right hand of God the Father in glory fully God and fully man. [5]
Who saw Jesus ascend? The Apostles along with some of Jesus’ disciples witnessed His ascension in Heaven. [6]The Apostles and disciples received great joy from His ascension. Saint Leo wrote concerning the ascension, “Rejoice, also, O Christian soul, for Christ has today opened heaven for you, and you may enter it, if you believe in Christ, and live in accordance with that faith.” [7]
Why did Jesus ascend into Heaven? Jesus ascended into Heaven in order to fulfill His glory for all eternity. He ascended to be our Mediator and advocate with His Father (Hebrews 9:24), to open the gates of Heaven for all souls who died in God’s grace, to prepare a place for us in Heaven (John 14:2), and to send the Holy Spirit as He promised (John 16:7). [8]
While the Apostles were filled with joy and awe at the sight of Jesus ascending into Heaven, they were also timid; distressed for they knew Jesus was leaving them again. But again Jesus reassures them, in today’s first reading, of sending forth the Holy Spirit. He promises them an advocate and to bring them power through the Holy Spirit. They followed Jesus’ instructions and waited for the coming of the Holy Spirit. This would happen nine days later at Pentecost. This would be the first novena in the Church.
What is a novena and why has it continued as a tradition of the Church? Nine days of public or private prayer for some special occasion or intention. Its origin goes back to the nine days that the Disciples and Mary spent together in prayer between Ascension and Pentecost Sunday. [9] Novenas are a great way to show honor to a patron Saint or an event in the life of Christ or Our Blessed Mother as we pray nine days prior to the feast day, having the feast day as the ninth day. When we are discerning or praying about a difficult decision or a special intention we can make a novena. Novenas can be helpful because it allows us to not make a hasty decision, but rather to wait for God. One of the most popular novenas is the Chaplet of Divine Mercy Novena, which begins on Good Friday and ends on Divine Mercy Sunday. Novenas can also be done in thanksgiving. For example a couple may pray a novena in thanksgiving for an anniversary or a family might pray a novena prior to a birthday in thanksgiving for life.
Why are we a people of hope and not despair? Today’s readings are all about hope. Hope in the coming of Christ again to finalize His established Kingdom on earth, hope in the Holy Spirit to enkindle and awaken our souls, hope in the strength that God gives us to be disciples for Him, and hope that we can ascend body and soul to be with God for all eternity.
Where is Christ now? Jesus is in two placed physically or bodily. He is in heaven. Jesus Christ “sits at the right hand of the Father” [apostles creed,] where with the Father judges the living and the dead. Jesus is also physically present in the Holy Eucharist, body, blood, soul and divinity. He is present here on this earth everywhere as God, but Jesus is not everywhere in his humanity as God-man. Besides heaven and in the Blessed Sacrament, Jesus is spiritually present in the Church when we pray and perform works of mercy. He is present when the Church gives the sacraments. He is present in the Church’s teachers, especially in the successors of Peter and the Apostles. He is in the Church by the graces He gives us when we are struggling in our pilgrimage throughout our lives. [10]
Search: Presence of Christ
What significance is there in Jesus being “seated at the right hand of the Father”? In the book of Daniel, he prophesied the vision of the Son of Man: “To him was given dominion and glory and kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.” [11] The kingdom of Jesus Christ was established here on earth in the Catholic Church. The universal Church is in every region, every language; Jesus kingship is adorned, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against his dominion on earth and on His Church.
How should we celebrate this feast of the Ascension? Obviously, we cannot ascend ourselves body and soul into heaven. However, we can aspire by working to ascend our souls everyday to Christ in Heaven. Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there is your heart also. [12] If Jesus is really our treasure, our hearts should not be anywhere but close to Him in Heaven. [13] St. Augustine said, “Let us ascend in spirit with Christ, that when His day comes, we may follow with our body. Yet you must know, beloved brethren, that not pride, nor avarice, nor impurity, nor any other vice ascends with Christ; for with the teacher of humility pride ascends not, nor with the author of goodness, malice, nor with the Son of the Virgin, impurity. Let us then ascend with Him by trampling upon our vices and evil inclinations, thus building a ladder by which we can ascend; for we make a ladder of our sins to heaven when we tread them down in combating them.” How can we ascend in spirit today with Christ? What sins can we make a ladder out of to ascend to Jesus?
Not everything gets into heaven. Saint Augustine says that pride, avarice, impurity and other vices cannot go to heaven, they only weigh us down. We must get rid of the weight if we want to ascend. It is when we try to pull our sins through life, that we get “burnt out” in this life and possibly “burned” in the next as well. When we try to pull our sins, in the end, it is our sins that end up always pulling us. They pull us back, away from Christ. Jesus says to us all those who have heavy burdens come to me and I will give you rest. What sins in our life have not only held us back, but have actually ended up pulling us away from Christ, away from heaven?
[1] CCC 659
[2] Modern Catholic Dictionary pg. 43
[3] Luke 24:26
[4] Acts 14:22
[5] The church’s year pg. 292
[6] Luke 24:51
[7] Church’s Year pg. 292
[8] Basic Catholic Catechism pg. 26
[9] Modern Catholic Dictionary pg. 381
[10] Basic Catholic Catechism pg. 26-27
[11] Dan 7:14
[12] Mt 6:21
[13] Divine Intimacy pg. 536