Waiting for the Promised Holy Spirit: A Reflection of the Ascension

Beloved parishioners,
Thanks for all your prayers. I am doing well, and praying for you as well.

This weekend the Church commemorates the Ascension of Our Lord into heaven forty days after his post resurrection mission among his disciples. Christ ascends into heaven, into a sanctuary not made by human hands. And he now sits at the right hand of the Father in glory interceding for us. Our faith teaches us that where Christ our head has gone before, we his body will follow. We see that he was already preparing his disciples’ minds for his ascension. Last week we read how Jesus promised to return even though he must leave. And as he ascends into heaven the Holy Spirit comes down to earth. This departure of Jesus is certainly not abandonment. He has not left the disciples without a guide. He sends them the Holy Spirit. This Spirit brings to completion the work Jesus had begun. I found a helpful teaching given by Pope Francis during his May 16, 2021 Angelus, and would like to share with you:

God, the Son of God, descends and becomes man, takes our humanity and redeems it—he now ascends into heaven, taking our flesh with him. He is the first man who enters heaven, because Jesus is man, true man; he is God, true God; our flesh is in heaven and this gives us joy.

Now a human body sits at the right hand of the Father for the first time, the body of Jesus, and in this mystery we each contemplate our own future destination. This is not at all an abandonment; Jesus remains forever with the disciples—with us. He remains in prayer, because as man, he prays to the Father, and as God, man and God, he shows him his wounds, the wounds by which he has redeemed us. Jesus’ prayer is there, with our flesh: he is one of us, God-man, and he prays for us.

The necessity of Jesus’ return to the Father can be seen in Jesus’ own words, “if I do not go the comforter will not come” (John 16:7). This is the reason we should rejoice. We rejoice that Jesus’ departure from this world is for our own good. It is so that the Spirit would come. The Spirit of truth, who is the power from on high, accompanies us on our earthly pilgrimage, quickening us for mission and enabling us witness to the resurrection. Yes, Jesus will return just as we see him go into heaven. As we profess in the old translation of The Mystery of Faith: Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again! But until he returns, let us get to work. There are souls to rescue; there are souls to save. There’s work to be done. Are you in?

Christos Anesti… Alithos Anesti!