Ascension: Lifted up so no one be left out

“…he was taken up before their eyes and a cloud hid him from their sight” (cf. Acts 1:9), and “when I go to prepare a place for you…I shall come again to take you to me, so that where I am, you also may be” (cf. Jn 14:3).

That is the beautiful promise of hope for eternal life that the story of ascension brings, the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ which is celebrated today by the universal Church and all Christians to mark the completion of Christ’s resurrection, the same hope of rising again embraced by the whole of humanity upon Jesus’ victory over death, “because I live you shall also live” (cf. Jn 14:19). What tremendous pain brought to the disciples to see their Master hanged on the cross to death for the guilt that was never his is now overcome with joy, “and they returned to Jerusalem full of joy” (cf. Lk 24:52).

The paradox there is in the joy of being deserted on the part of the apostles when Jesus was lifted up to heaven lies on the parting words the Ascended Lord had on them, “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea…even to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Having said so, the apostles had realized the value of Ascension not in Christ’s physical remoteness but in His spiritual nearness through the Holy Spirit’s indwelling them and empowering them as they bear witness to His works and words by their lives. He has not deserted them, instead He made His divine presence possible at all times and places through His Spirit.

By His seated at the right hand of the Father means He shares the Heavenly glory due Him and in an “authority and control over all power in heaven and earth as has been given Him” (Mt 28:18). Therefore He sent His apostles to “make disciples of all nations…teaching them to observe all that He had commanded of them” under the assurance of His intercessory care being the Mediator and Advocate, by His abiding presence, “I am with you always, even to the end of the world” (Mt 28:18-20). The glorious ascension mystery does not end with the commissioning of the apostles forming first communities in mission to spread God’s message of salvation and become His witnesses. Christ’s ascension underscores the fact that from early to modern-day Christian disciples, all are called, sent forth and charged with the responsibility of “doing the same works that He does” (Jn 14:12) through the Church for which He is the Godhead, One who is fully present, actively participating in every moment of their lives by the Holy Spirit at work, “the living, interior rule of our activity” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 2074).

Today’s Feast of our Lord’s Ascension comes at the most fitting time when we Filipino Christians are to exercise our legitimate right to suffrage in tomorrow’s national elections. As true believers of the Ascended Lord, we are invited to contemplate the mind of Christ during the casting of our votes to candidates of our choice, (“It is I who chose you”) allowing them to rise into power in the country’s executive and legislative posts and to continue God’s saving work within the political sphere as their mission field, and be fearless enough to go to the “peripheries” of the lost and the least and then be His witnesses by their lives they live. Finally, we pray, as we submit to the primacy of His authority over heaven and earth as given Him, to intercede for us in our need for Peace in the face of hostilities, and to obtain mercy in our weaknesses. It is Jesus’ prayer too to the Heavenly Father shortly before His arrest, that in His final return He will take our humanity into His divinity, “I want them to be with me where I am” (cf. Jn 17:24). What a beautiful promise of lifting us up together to the hope of eternal glory! (Cynthia Chu)