In the Church calendar, exactly 40 days after Easter Sunday, we commemorate Christ’s Ascension into Heaven. Ascension always falls on a Thursday; this year, it falls on May 21. However, in most dioceses, the Feast is moved to the following Sunday. If you live in one of the few dioceses that still observe Ascension on Thursday, it’s a Holy Day of Obligation.
What’s the Ascension?
There are many ways to understand and appreciate the Ascension. For me, what stands out is the response of the disciples to the Ascension of Christ. How different it was compared to their response to his arrest and crucifixion.
Before his crucifixion, at the Last Supper Jesus tells his followers that “I will be with you only a little while longer,” to which Peter replies (basically), Um, WHAT? Where are you going? Why can’t I come? The disciples were upset at the suggestion that he would leave them; they couldn’t handle it. Then when he was arrested, they freaked out. They even ran away and hid.
After the Resurrection, Christ spent 40 days with the disciples, preparing them for their mission. He laid down the structure for the Church so the disciples would have something to work with. 40 days well spent. They were ready.
At the end of the 40 days, the disciples followed Jesus to the Mount of Olives, and right there before their eyes, he rose up to heaven. This time, they didn’t freak out. They didn’t feel abandoned or frightened. Instead, they “returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God” (Luke 24:52-53).
They had developed spiritual chops. Whereas beforehand they were immature and even thickheaded at times, now they were filled with conviction, hope, and joy. They were ready to begin their mission.
Being Left Behind
We are disciples, too. We are meant to point the world toward him through the witness of our lives. Sometimes, though, we are like those disciples who were a little thickheaded and immature.
Part of our struggle is that we have eyes. We have eyes, and we never had the privilege of seeing Jesus in the flesh like those first disciples. God incarnate isn’t going to make us breakfast or wash our feet as he did for them. Like those first disciples, we may wonder why Jesus had to leave. Why didn’t he stay here and help the Church evangelize the world? Did he abandon us?
Here’s the way I make sense of it. Christ wants to bring Earth and Heaven closer together, so he set up two command centers, if you will. He is in Heaven mediating for us, actively working for us and through us while he is seated at the right hand of his Father. We are here actively working with Christ as his mystical body, transforming the world and leading it toward Heaven through our prayers, liturgy, sacrifices, and preaching. (At least that is what we’re supposed to be doing.)
Christ ascended not to escape Earth but to transfigure it and draw it to heaven (Catechism, Section 662). He ascended so we would have access to heaven. Of course, he could have stayed on Earth. He’s God. He ascended because that is what we needed. Even when we feel “left behind,” Christ never abandons us.
Ascension Gives Us a Chance to Evaluate Our Mission
The first disciples were filled with hope and zeal because they had cooperated with Christ as he prepared them for their mission. They followed the structure Christ had created for them. We, too, must cooperate and allow Christ to prepare us and guide us.
Each day we receive invitations to say yes to many things. It’s easy to say yes to things that are really a waste of time. When we say yes to the wrong things, we don’t have time to say yes to the right things. We find ourselves struggling to clarify our priorities, struggling to pray, struggling to nourish our family faith, struggling to practice works of mercy.
So, no Christ did not abandon us. But sometimes we abandon him. He never stops leading us, but sometimes we stop following him.
A few positive things have come from the pandemic quarantines. Many of us are aware of how much better we feel without our calendars constantly screaming at us to go somewhere or do something. If we follow the structure the world has laid down, then before long we’ll be in a quicksand of anxiety and emptiness. In reality, we will always have enough time to be disciples of Jesus.
As Ascension approaches, perhaps we can consider our gifts and talents, and how we can use them better for God’s glory. We can consider how we can use our time to accomplish the mission God has called us to. Then, like the disciples after the Ascension, we will find conviction, hope, and joy break in as we embark on the journey of discipleship with revived trust and passion.