Of all the mysteries of our faith that we celebrate during the Easter season, the importance of the Ascension is perhaps the hardest to understand. It isn\u2019t difficult to see why Jesus had to rise from the dead after His Crucifixion, or why we celebrate the birth of the Church and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. But why is Jesus\u2019 leaving His disciples behind and going to heaven not only important, but a cause for celebration?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Fathers of the Church can help us here. Many of them taught that the Ascension can only be understood alongside our belief in the Mystical Body of Christ. Because we are all part of Christ\u2019s Body through our Baptism, when Jesus ascended body and soul into heaven, in a certain sense, we ascended with Him. His Ascension serves as a sort of promise and pledge that there is a place for us in heaven; that that is where we belong. It is both a foreshadowing and a fulfillment of the heavenly destiny of humanity. A foreshadowing, because those of us on earth have yet to enter into heavenly glory; a fulfillment, because in Christ, the human race has passed through the heavenly gates and sits in glory at God\u2019s right hand. As St. Augustine says, \u201cjust as he remained with us even after his ascension, so we too are already in heaven with him, even though what is promised us has not yet been fulfilled in our bodies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So let us joyfully celebrate Jesus\u2019 Ascension, because it is a pledge to us of our salvation: so long as we remain united to Christ our head, we His body cannot have any other destiny. If we abide in Christ, we will share in His glory, reigning with Him for all eternity!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I will leave you with the eloquent words of St. Leo the Great: \u201cthat blessed company [those present at the Ascension] had a great and inexpressible cause for joy when it saw man\u2019s nature rising above the dignity of the whole heavenly creation, above the ranks of angels, above the exalted status of archangels. Nor would there be any limit to its upward course until humanity was admitted to a seat at the right hand of the eternal Father, to be enthroned at last in the glory of him to whose nature it was wedded in the person of the Son.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Christ is risen and has ascended into heaven, alleluia!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Andrew Sheedy <\/strong>\u2013 St. Joseph Seminary, Edmonton, Alberta<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fot. Preslie Hirsch\/Unsplash.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Feast of the Ascension<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2452,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,17,18],"tags":[229,200,53,65],"class_list":["post-2451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-strona-glowna-najnowsze","category-strona-glowna-slider","tag-andrew-sheedy","tag-ascension","tag-christ","tag-comment"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n