Ascension of the Lord
Some years ago, during Holy Week, Jesus suddenly appeared on the covers of major magazines like Time and Newsweek. For a brief moment, it seemed as though the whole world was asking the same question:
Who is Jesus? But very quickly, the answers began to drift.
Some said he was a wise teacher.
Others called him a philosopher, a social reformer, or what one writer described as an “ironic sage.” A good man? Certainly. A profound thinker? Perhaps.
But nothing more.
And really, this struggle over the identity of Jesus is not new. From the very beginning, people have tried to explain him in ways that feel comfortable and manageable.
Because once you take away his divinity… once you remove the Resurrection… once you dismiss the Ascension… then Jesus becomes safe. Predictable. Just another extraordinary human being.
But the Gospel does not allow us to reduce Jesus like that.
And that is why the Feast of the Ascension is so important.
Today, we are not simply remembering a good man who lived long ago and faded into history. No — we are standing before a mystery that changes everything.
In today’s Gospel from Matthew, the risen Jesus says:
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”
Think about that for a moment.
No mere teacher speaks this way.
No philosopher would dare claim this.
These are the words of someone who has passed through death, risen from the grave, and now reigns in glory.
And this is what the Ascension means.
The Ascension is not Jesus leaving the world behind. It is not an escape. It is the enthronement of Christ. The one who was crucified now shares fully in the glory of the Father.
And once we understand that, everything else begins to change.
Because if Jesus is only a human figure, then the cross becomes simply a tragedy.
The Resurrection becomes a beautiful story of hope.
And the Ascension becomes a poetic ending.
But if Jesus truly is the eternal Son of God, then everything changes.
Then it means that God himself entered into our suffering.
God himself took upon himself our death.
And God himself has carried our humanity into the life of heaven.
And that changes the way we understand ourselves.
We are not simply passing moments in history.
We are not merely, as some would say, “another heap of chemicals” or just highly developed animals.
No. Our lives are caught up in something far greater.
We are sons and daughters of God, created in his image and likeness, made for eternity.
The Ascension tells us that our humanity now has a place in God.
And then, interestingly, Jesus does not tell the disciples to sit quietly and admire this truth.
Instead, he gives them a mission.
He says, “Go.”
“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations.”
In other words, if this is true, it cannot remain private. Faith is never meant to stay locked inside the walls of a church or remain only within our families. It must move outward.
The world needs to hear not a reduced version of Jesus, but the true Jesus — crucified, risen, and ascended.
And that mission belongs to all of us.
First, we are sent. Every baptized person is sent. Christianity is not passive.
Second, we do not go on our own authority. Jesus says, “All authority has been given to me.” We go in his name. Which means we are never alone. We are witnesses, not the source.
And third, people now encounter Christ through us — through the Church, through our words, our love, our faithfulness, our forgiveness, and the way we live.
That is a tremendous responsibility.
And finally, Jesus leaves the disciples with a promise:
“I am with you always.”
And this is the great paradox of the Ascension.
He goes… and yet he remains.
He is hidden from our sight… and yet more present than before.
My brothers and sisters, if Christ is not truly risen and ascended, then everything we have celebrated during Easter is empty — our prayers, our alleluias, our hope.
But if it is true — and it is true — then we are part of something extraordinary.
Christianity is not merely a human idea or a cultural tradition. It is the very action of God in history.
So today, on this Feast of the Ascension, the Church reminds us:
We are sent.
We are entrusted with the Gospel.
And we are carried by the promise of the One who reigns:
“I am with you always.”
And that changes everything