The Ascension of Jesus

There is so much to contemplate in Jesus’ ascension into heaven that I am glad many dioceses have transferred this feast from Thursday to Sunday. For Teilhard de Chardin, the Ascension was the most beautiful feast of the year, because Christ’s Ascension predicted the universe returning to the Father. It anticipated the fulfillment of all who live in Christ. From the moment God became incarnate, there has been no dichotomy between matter and spirit. God’s plan to make matter divine was fully realized in Jesus Christ. The Ascension means that we, too, are divinized. Instead of going up and away, Christ is in the heart of all creation, in each creature, dwelling there in his glorified humanity. As Colossians states, “Christ is all and in all.” Galatians says it another way: “It is Christ who lives in me.”  Whatever you and I do today—work, play, pray—it is Christ acting in us.