The Feast of the Ascension

The Feast of the Ascension is a day to ponder the promise Jesus made at the Last Supper to the disciples.  He said that He would be going to a place they could not go, but that He would prepare a place for them and come back for them, so that they would be where He is.  That place is heaven.

St. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians tells them that he prays that the eyes of their hearts would be enlightened so that they would know the hope of God's call.  He too is speaking about heaven, where we all hope to be one day sharing in the glory and life of God.  We will know a peace and a joy and fulfillment that we can't even begin to imagine. 

We know from the Lord's Prayer that heaven is the place where God's will is done - always and in every way. In heaven God is present in all God's glory and the angels and the saints who are there share in that glory.  It must be awesome, in the truest sense of that word.  When we make it to heaven, St. John tells us that we will be like God, for we shall see God as God is.  Jesus came and shared in our humanity, so that we might share in His divinity.  That's what heaven is all about.

In the meantime, as we Pentecost celebrate next week, we are reminded that God sends us the Holy Spirit, to make us holy and to empower us to continue the work of Jesus.  As He did, so now we strive to build up the Kingdom of God in our world today.  We won't be perfect in doing that because we are weak and sinful at times.  But if we trust in God's mercy and are faithful to our call, we will make it to heaven. 

It won't be easy, but once we are in heaven, we will realize with a joy beyond all telling that it was all worth it.