Homily, May 17, 2026
From The Pastor
There is more than what meets the eye in the Ascension of Jesus. More than simply ascending into heaven after the Resurrection, the feast of the Ascension signals an essential movement in the work of our redemption. As a Solemnity, the Ascension rises to the highest level of a feast day. Why? That Jesus ascends to heaven in glory after his Resurrection is obvious. What is less clear and not often understood is that the ascension of Jesus is also the ascension and exaltation of all humanity.
The Church expresses the Paschal Mystery in three movements of Divine action. It begins with the work of creation as God creates out of love for the sake of love and the ultimate union of all that is created. The second movement of God’s action is the work of redemption. The work of redemption was always present with God as the Word to be made flesh. Our redemption actively begins with the Annunciation of the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary. With Mary’s yes to the invitation of the angel, the infant Jesus is conceived in her womb. “And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” Jesus matures into the adult Christ surrendering himself to the Cross to defeat the lie of evil, the disorder of sin, and the sadness of death.
This is the Paschal Mystery: through death to new life. Jesus, the Divine Son freely chose to give his life for the sake of our redemption. The Incarnation expresses two movements. God in Christ, descends from the heavens through the power of the Holy Spirit to assume human flesh. Christ closes the gap between heaven and earth accepting our human condition in all things but sin, to reconcile us to the Father bringing unity to all humanity and creation.
The feast of the Ascension completes the second movement of God’s action of creation – redemption. As expressed in the second reading today, Jesus ascends in exalted glory to the Father in heaven. The Christ, now risen from the dead, is received into glory by the Father. Having accepted our humanity and physicality, as Jesus ascends to heaven in his glorified human-divine nature, we ascend with him. Thus, his ascension becomes our own. The humanity of Jesus accepts and contains all humanity redeemed and justified through his dying and rising.
The Ascension completes the physical work-action of the Incarnation. The completed work of the Son initiates the third movement of God’s work of creation-redemption-fulfillment. The third movement is the sending of the Holy Spirit. Christ is now present in all creation through the work-action of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is given to all believers through the waters of Baptism to empower us to put into action in our lives the love Jesus modeled in his life.
Christ lives on in us and is made present in the world through the Holy Spirit. This is made clear in today’s gospel as Jesus gives the disciples and all believers the great commission: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” This is the mission of all believers who seek the Divine way.
We are already in Christ. Through his blood we have been redeemed. In him and through him our place in heaven has been prepared. The invitation of our faith is to know Jesus in himself. To know Jesus as the Divine One, we ponder the life he lived as shared with us through the gospels. Further, through the grace and identity given us in Baptism, we are to know, accept, and love ourselves as the beloved of God in whom Christ dwells. This sounds like an impossible task which is precisely why we need and have been given the Holy Spirit. We cannot do it on our own, but if we accept, allow, and pay attention to the Holy Spirit, God will show the way. On a conscious or unconscious level, we are all seeking and longing for God. Why? Because God is always seeking and longing for us. This is what love does. The lover always seeks and longs for the beloved.
The Ascension is more than a nice way to get Jesus back to heaven after the Resurrection. It serves as an essential movement of our redemption that inspires our hope, promises us a share in God’s glory, and empowers us with the Holy Spirit to know and follow the way.
For all the weakness, frustration, and inevitable failures of our human nature, Christ the Incarnate One has set us free. Feel the joy. Accept the Holy Spirit. Live a life of peace, doing what you can to put more love into the world. We are on our way to heaven.
Father John Esper
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