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May 24, 2019
The Ascension of Jesus
by Fr. Joseph Evinger
This Thursday in most of the Catholic world the Church will celebrate the Solemnity of Jesus’ Ascension into heaven, a day in which the whole Catholic world is obligated to celebrate. However, in some dioceses in the United States including the Diocese of Bismarck (in which we reside) the feast of the Ascension has been moved by special indult to the following Sunday. This year it falls on June 2. This Thursday is just a regular Easter Season weekday for us.
Whenever we celebrate Holy Mass we call to mind this great mystery of Jesus’ ascending body and soul into heaven. “Therefore, O Lord, as we celebrate the memorial of the blessed Passion, the Resurrection from the dead, and the glorious Ascension into heaven of Christ, your Son, our Lord…” (from Eucharistic Prayer 1)
In the Creed both the Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed, we say that we believe Jesus ascended into heaven. One cannot be a follower of Christ, a Christian unless one believes he, in his glorified humanity, is in heaven at this moment interceding to the Father on our behalf. When you think about it, it is quite crazy! A human being who has power over death itself is in heaven preparing a place for us. I don’t know what this preparation looks like but I know it must be pretty good.
In one sense, the Ascension appears that Jesus has left us behind to figure out things by ourselves, but we must not forget the words he said to the apostles and the Church before he ascended: “And lo, I am with you always until the close of the age.” (Matt 28:20) Jesus may not be present to us in visible form, but he is certainly present to us more than you and I are present to each other. He is present in the Most Blessed Sacrament and in all the sacraments. He is closer to you than you are to your best friend. And yet, he is also in heaven getting it ready for us.