THE ASCENSION OF THE LORD

Homily for the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, 

By Rev. Fr. Casmir Odundo, “Kibet” (Assistant Priest Keringet Parish)

In my childhood days, I used to wonder what makes birds, aero planes, helicopters fly up into the sky and how is it that man cannot fly on his or her own. My nursery (kindergarden) teacher had told me that man cannot fly up into the sky because he doesn’t have wings. Later, when I was in high school, (form Two), during our physics class I was happy to find an answer to my puzzle. A helicopter goes up into the sky by propelling its main rooter. This rooter causes an increase in velocity above the helicopter, and an increase in velocity means a decrease in pressure above the helicopter and this makes the pressure from beneath the plane to make it fly up. The same principle is applied in some birds and planes.

Today, we celebrate the great Solemnity of the Ascension of Our Lord. This Solemnity commemorates a great tenet of our faith. In the Creed we profess “ascendit ad caelos, sedet ad dexteram Dei Patris Omnipotentis...He ascended into heaven and He is seated the right hand of God the Almighty Father.” The truth of this tenet of our faith is principally grounded in the scriptures particularly in the Gospel of St. Luke. St. Luke also offers us two accounts of this key event. In the Gospel according to Luke he notes, “Then Jesus led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them.  While he blessed them, he parted from them, and was carried up into heaven. And they returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.”(Lk 24:50-53). In the Beginning of the Acts of the Apostles, which serves as the first reading of Today’s Liturgy the same event is again recorded by St. Luke albeit with a slightly different description. The Ascension of the Lord is also mentioned to in the Gospel of John, “Christ asks the Jews: "If then you shall see the son of Man ascend up where He was before?" (Jn 6:63)  and  Jesus says to Mary Magdalene: "Do not touch Me, for I am not yet ascended to My Father, but go to My brethren, and say to them: I ascend to My Father and to your Father, to My God and to your God." Jn 20:17,  The ascension is also spoken of in other Books of the New testament. For instance in Ephesians 4:8-10 (the text of today’s second reading) , and in Timothy 3:16.

The New Testament uses different words to describe the ascension event:

·         Greek Word “Anaphero” which means Carried Up

·         Greek Word “Analambano” which means To take Up

·         Greek Word “Eipairo”  which means “to raise up”

·         Greek word “Anabaino” which means to Go up.

There is also much imagery associated with the Ascension. For example the Acts of the Apostles, depict him as being taken up by clouds. However, the Catholic Encyclopaedia, cautions us that, “The language used by the Evangelists to describe the Ascension must be interpreted according to usage. To say that He was taken up or that He ascended does not necessarily imply that they locate heaven directly above the earth; no more than the words "sitteth on the right hand of God" mean that this is His actual posture.” In other words, the Ascension of Christ cannot be understood or even explained  in terms of Physics (as we do for the case of a helicopter) or astronomy (as we do for the case of a rocket.) Where is heaven? We know heaven is a state and not a place.

Jesus ascended into heaven but he is still with us as the Preface I of the Ascension reminds us, “Christ Ascended…not to abandon us but to be our hope.”In Kenya and I guess in many other nations as well, when one is elected a Member of Parliament, he or she is tasked with the important role of representing the people and legislation. To this end, an elected MP will have to have a kind of semi-domicile (Residence) in Nairobi (Capital) because it is from there that he will perform his role effectively. So the MP will relocate—albeit in a part-time basis—to Nairobi. His relocation to Nairobi does not mean that he is far from the people i.e. his constituents but rather albeit in a different way, he is even closer. Because from Nairobi he will better serve and better represent his constituents. He seems far…in Nairobi…but very close to the people. From Nairobi he works for the people who elected him.

This limited analogy for me, best solves the paradox of the Ascension. Jesus has Ascended into heaven. Yet he is not far from us…he is not detached from us. He is close to us.  This reminds me of the story of St. John Bosco. During the last moments of his life, Don Bosco lamented, “My children are asking for bread and I can no longer beg for them.” Because of this he said: “I wish therefore to go to heaven. From there I shall be able to do much for my sons; from there I will watch over them. Down here I can no longer do anything for them.”

What then does Jesus’ Ascension mean for us? This question can properly be responded to when we look at the Ascension versus Incarnation.   The Ascension  is related to the Incarnation. This is because Only the one who “came from the Father” can return to the Father as we read in  (Jn 16:28). At Christmas, we celebrate the Incarnation of Our Lord. That is, God’s “descent” from Heaven to take human flesh. This Incarnation just as the Ascension cannot be interpreted in the sense of Physics or Astronomy. God’s Incarnation typically means that Jesus came down into our situation, our life and our world. On the other hand Ascension is again not about Physics or astronomy but it is about us now being taken up into God’s situation. God goes up, He ascends, He goes up with us….We go up with him. By Ascending into glory therefore, Christ completed the work of redemption.” The cycle is complete.

Theologians also give other reasons to support the Ascension.

·         The first is in regard to Christ’s body and this fact is explained in the Catechism of the Catholic Church n. 659. It is true that Christ’s body was glorified at the moment of his Resurrection, as proved by the new and supernatural properties it subsequently and permanently enjoyed. But during the forty days when the Risen Lord  ate and drank  familiarly with his disciples and taught them about the kingdom, his glory remained veiled under the appearance of ordinary humanity. This veil, was removed with His Ascension into heaven.

·         Secondly, His Ascension was actually for our good…he wanted to attend to our salvation from Heaven after taking on his full powers as mentioned in the second reading.(Ephesians 1:17-23)

·         It was necessary He ascended so that the Holy Spirit might descend.

·         His Ascension was a necessary confirmation that his kingdom is not of this world.

·         The Ascension of Jesus into heaven is a sign of hope of heaven. This is well captured in the collect (introductory prayer) for today’s mass, “The ascension of Jesus is an example to us because where our head is, there we also hope to reach as his body.”

It is not by chance that we celebrate the Ascension of Our Lord within the Easter Season. With the  Ascension of Our Lord, our Easter festivities have reached a climax for two reasons: First, It happens exactly 40 days after the events of Easter Sunday, and we all know what the number 40 symbolizes in the bible. Secondly, it is the LAST APPARITION OF OUR LORD. (The Catechism of the Catholic Church notes that the subsequent Apparition of the Risen Lord to Paul was exceptional and unique).

Again, it is not by chance that we always celebrate the Ascension of our Lord and Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (15^th August) according to the Liturgical Calendar. It is because of the Ascension that we have the Assumption.  Ascension and Assumption, while both are means through which various people reached heaven they are essentially different. Ascension is to Jesus while Assumption is to Mary. Language lovers will be quick to note that Ascension is in active voice while Assumption is passive in voice. This is because while Jesus is God and therefore went up into heaven by his own powers…Mary because she is a creature just like us is assumed into heaven by the power of God.

Just what can we really learn from the Ascension of our Lord? That we should AIM HIGH…as Starehe Boys’ Centre Motto puts it: “Natulenge Juu.” For by his Ascension our Lord has demonstrated that we should aim beyond the skies, i.e.  we should aim at Heaven. This is because from this event we have learnt that sky is NOT even the limit, Heaven is. We are therefore reminded to look for that which is above(Col 3:1-2), i.e. the Heavenly as opposed to the earthly.

Are you aiming high enough?

May Mary, Queen of Heaven, intercede for us to her Son,  Christ Our Lord, who ascended into Heaven.