In the 4th century, the Church fixed the date for the celebration of the Ascension forty days after Easter. Logically, it always falls on Thursday. Why? Because this feast is celebrated forty days after Easter Sunday, day of the Lord’s Resurrection. For pastoral reasons, it has been moved to the following Sunday. This figure of forty days comes from the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, in which Luke writes that Jesus ”presented himself alive after his Passion by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days, and speaking of the Kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3).
There is a similarity between the forty days and forty nights of the deluge; the people of Israel spent forty years walking towards the Promised Land, and, in Lent, the forty days Jesus spent in the desert, and His Ascension, after forty days of prayer and fasting, followed by forty days of celebration and joy! The number four in the Bible signifies the material universe; followed by zeros, it means the time of our life on earth. It’s a time of testing in which God strengthens us, the necessary time that God gives us to return to Him, to convert, and to be touched by His mercy. Benedict XVI explained it has “the time of waiting, of purification, of return to the Lord and the consciousness that God is faithful to His promises.”
How enriching it is to follow the liturgical seasons. In Christmastide, we celebrate God the Father’s sending Jesus Christ to Bethlehem, and now He must return. The Ascension is the proof that guarantees the success of God’s plan. Jesus fulfills all that His Father asked of Him.
During His earthly life and, after the Resurrection, Jesus’ glory remained somewhat veiled, obscured. Therefore, God received Him with honor; Jesus is He in whom the Father is pleased. He ascends to Heaven to prepare a place for us. Thus Jesus becomes the Mediator between God and men.
Jesus’ Ascension is important because it marks the end of his way on earth. Death and Resurrection are united for the Church. The expression to “ascend to Heaven” marks the beginning of supernatural life, that is why the Lord said to His disciples when speaking of His death: I am going to the Father” (John 16:28). Moreover, on ascending to Heaven, Jesus explains to us what it means to rise from the dead and enter into God’s glory. Saint Augustine said: “Lord, you made us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee.”
This, too, is our future, to enter in the Father’s glory, which has been promised to all of us. Only by contemplating the Father can man’s heart be satiated. The Ascension points us to our end; our desire for plenitude can only be satiated when we contemplate God face-to-face. We are made for God, and only He can satiate our thirst.
This event can awaken in us a sad feeling, product of the love we feel for Jesus, as Saint Josemaria Escriva wrote on one occasion: “He, being perfect God, became man, perfect man, flesh of our flesh and blood of our blood. And He separates Himself from us to ascend to Heaven. How can we not miss Him?” However, He himself promised that He would be with us until the end of time. That is our hope.
Moreover, on His departure, Jesus left us a mission: “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to the whole Creation”(Mark 16:15). We are called to proclaim Jesus’ Resurrection with our style of life and witness. May others encounter Him and believe! This was made possible thanks to His promising us His Holy Spirit. He doesn’t leave us alone, His Spirit will accompany us always,. “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
Therefore, this event in Christ’s life is one more sign that nothing is impossible for God. To follow the way God the Father has traced for each one of us here on earth will have repercussions, as it did for Jesus, the Virgin, the Saints, and all the Angels. We, too, will enjoy that abode prepared for us. Let’s hope that in the same way that Our Lord Jesus Christ ascended to Heaven, our heart will also ascent with Him one day.
Prayer
My God, Christ Jesus, who have opened Heaven to Earth,
You have forgiven me; You have saved me with your immense love. You have shown me the Way to reach You: to give my whole life for love.
All I want Lord, all I ask You is to live eternally with You.
May the happiness of knowing that You are preparing a place for me in Heaven, nourish my hope and my faith to continue taking to all every day what You have taught me.
Let not fear overcome me, let not difficulties stop me, may incomprehension not debase me. Wherever I go and whatever I do, may I be a witness of your love, of Your overcoming death and may You lead us to Eternal Life. Amen.
