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| V as in Victory |
We celebrate the Ascension of Jesus on Sunday. But most of the homilies are about the still coming feast of Pentecost. Perhaps, because Ascension Day, in the Church's liturgy, has been on Thursday - it has already passed... Or, perhaps, because priests avoid speaking of the "cinematic" scene. ", so to speak, of which the apostles were witnesses.
I think to myself: for those who believe in the Resurrection and in the fact that Jesus goes through walls and closed doors, with his "glorious body", the episode of the Ascension is far from impossible. This is further proof that the Risen Jesus is not subject to our physical and chemical laws. This is one more proof, for our faith, that there is another configuration of Life.
I found a beautiful and enlightening homily, by Father Paulo Ricardo (in Portuguese), which talks about the importance of the Ascension (audio link at the end of the text). A text written by Sean Fitzpatrick (in English) also gives explanations that awaken our ability to think logically, in this circumstance which exceeds our capacities, and a text from "got questions", with good answers about the meaningful reasons of Jesus' Ascension (see related links).
Without wishing to dispense with the references I mentioned, I will try to summarize what I learned from my "reading".
In fact, it was quite didactic of Jesus to show the end of one stage and the beginning of another. After the Resurrection, He was still with the apostles for 40 days, to give them courage, to strengthen their faith and to increase their understanding, in order to give them very special qualifications for the Mission transmitted to them. So the time had come to go to another "place" - whatever it is supposed to be what we call "Heaven" or "the Father's House" - and send the promised Holy Spirit, at another important event, Pentecost.
The Ascension was a remarkable event, both as a temporal determinant for the disciples and as a boundary between our nature and what is for us supernatural. Jesus ascended, free from gravitational pull, free from suffering, to say the least, and "disappeared", with the promise, however, to be with us every day, until the end of the age (Matthew 28: 20).
It was not necessary to witness the moment of the Resurrection, since Jesus was then personally with the disciples. But the witness was needed at the moment of the Ascension, for where He was going, He could no longer be seen, in His glorious state, as the disciples saw Him after the Resurrection (different from “apparitions”).
It was such an imposing and triumphant event for the disciples that instead of being saddened by the departure of Jesus, they rejoiced, as the Bible records, awaiting the coming of the Holy Spirit.
I always found it strange that Jesus was saying goodbye and the disciples were happy. It had to be a triumphant farewell indeed. The disciples were still afraid, they needed to witness something pompous and out of the ordinary. The Resurrection was also unusual, but they weren't there when it happened. And Jesus had already resurrected other people, the act was already almost trivialized, so to speak. The Ascension was divine didactics!
In addition to being didactic, Jesus had infused the Holy Spirit in their hearts, in a preview of Pentecost, with a taste of wishing more.
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“Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth.”
“O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant us in the same Spirit to be truly wise and ever to rejoice in His consolation. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.”
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Related links :
The Ascension of Jesus Christ is meaningful for several reasons
Homilia sobre a Ascensão de Jesus: áudio do Padre Paulo Ricardo
Can we simply drop the Ascension story?
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