We celebrate today the Lord’s Ascension into heaven. The day designated by the Church to commemorate this event is the 40th day after Easter (last Thursday). However, the liturgy allows for the celebration of the Ascension on the following Sunday so that more people can ponder this great mystery in the Eucharist. This has been the practice for most of the United States, including the Metropolitan Province of Los Angeles.
Why are we celebrating an event wherein Jesus physically left his disciples to fend for themselves? Would it not be better if Jesus had remained in our midst where we can directly access his thoughts and desires? The disciples were just fresh from the trauma (and the failures) of Holy Week, and now the resurrected Lord was about to leave them to fulfill the great task of “making disciples of all nations.” Jesus knew that this thought would linger in the hearts of future Christians, and thus, the Lord had reassured us in the Gospel of St. John that it is better for us that he goes. He told us that if he does not go, the Holy Spirit will not come.
The Ascension reminds us that the Lord wanted his disciples to fully mature. Like babies, having someone to hold us by the hand may prevent us from stumbling, but it will never teach us how to run swiftly like the deer. Jesus wanted the early Church to soar untethered by the umbilical cord of his human presence. It is the unseen spirit that allows our souls to be set on fire!
For us who have inherited a Church that has gone through nearly two millennia since the Ascension, in some sense the same message rings true: it is better for us that the Lord ascends. It means that the scaffolds and crutches that hold up our faith must be transcended (not abandoned) in order to deepen our journey as disciples. As a practical example, let us look at certain crutches that prop up our faith. One of them is the inner consolation we receive in prayer and service. This is a great motivation to pray and to serve more. However, if our prayer and service are dependent on this good feeling, then we would be limited only by our good moods. If we serve for human recognition or the praise of others, then these also might be the crutches that hobble us. This limitation would make it difficult to thrive in the toxic environments of desolation, humiliation, loneliness, and suffering. In short, we cannot flourish in the footsteps of the Cross if we cannot rise above a transactional faith. It is in the Spirit of God that we are set on fire.
It is when we feel that the hands that held us as babies are slowly taken away that we start to truly understand the real power of the Holy Spirit. It is then that we can be like the disciples who were able to reach the ends of the earth. As we join the apostles who saw the Lord ascend into heaven, may we be filled by the grace of the Spirit to transcend the crutches that limit our spiritual growth.