"Get to Work"

Homily for the Solemnity of the Ascension

Today we celebrate a special part of what we call the Paschal Mystery; namely, the Solemnity of the Ascension of Our Lord Jesus. The language that we use to describe this special event is not very helpful when it comes to under-standing the event. The word ascension or ascend or taken up or lifted up all contribute to a rather unfortunate understanding of what happened. We picture the apostles standing around Jesus on the top of a mountain. As they are listening to him and looking at him, he seems to be taken up into the heavens.

This language can be used when we are talking about a three-dimensional space such as our planet earth. When we say that Jesus has ascended into heaven, we mean that Jesus has taken on a higher dimension or a higher existence than the dimension in which we mortals live. The church speaks of this as being seated at the right hand of God in the heavens; but as soon as we say the word “heavens,” we look to the sky. Yet our modern-day knowledge of the heavens or what we now call outer space does not adequately speak to this idea. Jesus has moved from a three-dimensional universe to a higher dimension which does not fit into our language.

Let us take a look at the first reading for today from the Acts of the Apostles. The apostles have already come to the conclusion that something special is going to happen as they stand atop this mountain with the risen Jesus. They ask Jesus a question: “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” Despite having listened to Jesus preach about the kingdom of God, they are still thinking in terms of restoring Israel to its former glory, free of the oppression of Rome or any other earthly power. Jesus responds by telling them that it is not for them to know when the kingdom of Israel will be restored. He further tells them that they will receive power from the Holy Spirit and that they will become witnesses for him. What exactly does Jesus mean by this? It is really very simple. Jesus tells them, “Get to work.”

We can understand the question that comes from the apostles. It is a question that we would like answered. We would like to know when God will come back with salvation. We and they are not to spend time worrying about things that are part of God’s plan. Rather we and they are to spend their energy spreading the Good News that Jesus has risen from the dead and that through his resurrection, we can look forward to eternal life. We can look forward to joining Jesus in this higher dimension or higher plane of existence which we now call eternal life.

In St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, we read an ecstatic hymn to the risen Savior. Now, I don’t know whether you paid attention to this, but this reading from the first chapter of this letter is almost all one sentence. St. Paul is so excited about what he has learned from his vision of Jesus as he was going to Damascus that he engages in complicated and very formal language. Consequently, we must read this passage and pay attention to what God has done in this event. God has seated Jesus on his throne and made him higher than every principality, authority, power, dominion, and name not only in his own time but also in every age to come. The body of the risen Lord Jesus has been glorified by God and now exists outside of our dimension. We can no longer speak of him as being the man who walked the hills of Israel preaching the nearness of the Kingdom of God. He has returned to the Father who sent him.

In another letter of the Christian Scriptures, namely, the Letter to the Hebrews, the sacred author refers to Jesus as having entered the Holy of Holies not made by human hands. We know that every year the high priest would enter the Holy of Holies in the Temple of Jerusalem with a basin of blood which had been caught as they sacrificed rams or bullocks on the altar of the temple. He would sprinkle that blood on the Ark of the Covenant, after which he would sprinkle some of the blood on the Israelites who had gathered in the temple on the Feast of Atonement, commonly known as Yom Kippur. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews tells us that like the high priest, Jesus has entered the Holy of Holies in heaven. However, unlike the high priest, Jesus has not come out of the Holy of Holies of heaven. We refer to that day as the eschaton or the Parousia, the day on which Jesus will come a second time. Just as the high priest proclaimed the forgiveness of sins in the Temple of Jerusalem, Jesus will return with our salvation – the forgiveness of our sins.

Each time that the priest absolves a sinner in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, he reminds the penitent that God has poured out the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins as he pronounces the words of absolution. Just as the apostles received power through the Holy Spirit and were told to preach the forgiveness of sins throughout the entire world, we are also told that it is now time for us to “Get to work.” We are to continue to preach that Jesus has poured out his blood by dying on a cross so that we could be forgiven through his death and resurrection. We are destined for life in that higher dimension where Jesus now lives. We are destined for eternal life in heaven. This is the essential message of this great solemnity, that we too will “ascend” and live with God forever. It is for this reason that we gather every Sunday and recall the sacrifice of Jesus as he shed his blood upon the cross. It is for this reason that we give praise and thanks to our God as we celebrate on the first day of the week, the day on which Jesus rose from the dead.