Solemnity of the Ascension
Cathedral of Mary Our Queen Livestreaming and TV Broadcast
June 1, 2025
A Mixed Picture
Put yourselves in the Apostles shoes. What were they to think? They followed the Lord from the beginning. They saw his miracles. They heard him speak like no other. But now the One they invested all their hope in was crucified . . . . Then, came the astounding news that he was risen from the dead. True enough, Jesus had told them all this would happen, but who could really believe they would live to see such things?
This morning’s Gospel picks up on this narrative. After the Resurrection, the Lord appeared to his disciples, instructing them further about the Kingdom of God. He was the same Person they knew all along but now he was different. He was still with them physically, even eating and drinking with them. But now his body was glorified, something hard to describe or imagine. And in his glorified body, he bore the wounds of the Cross by which our sins are forgiven and the way to eternal life is opened.
Wonder and awe filled the Apostles’ hearts as they encountered the Risen Lord. On the one hand, they rejoiced and took comfort in his presence, but on the other hand, they had questions, doubts, and fears. But now, Jesus was preparing to leave them, to return to his heavenly Father. What were the Apostles to think? What would their future hold? You and I should sympathize with them. After all, our hearts are filled hope as we rejoice in professing our faith. But we can also experience confusion, fear, anxiety, and doubts. We too sometimes wonder what our future holds. Like the Apostles, our lives of faith can be mixed picture.
The Apostles Rejoiced
That’s why we should pay close attention to this morning’s Gospel. It tells us that after the Lord ascended, the Apostles were filled with joy as they returned to Jerusalem to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit. Doesn’t it stand to reason that when Jesus disappeared from their sight the Apostles would be despondent, even distraught? Yet, here we find them rejoicing, and why?
Pope Saint Leo the Great, in a 5th century homily, explains it this way. He says that between the Resurrection and the Ascension, the Risen Lord instilled in the minds of the Apostles one principal truth: that he, the “Lord Jesus Christ, who was truly born, truly suffered, and truly died should be recognized as truly risen from the dead.” So convinced were the Apostles of this truth that when the Lord ascended, “far from feeling any sadness, they were filled with great joy.”
In today’s Gospel, we notice that the Apostles paid homage to Christ before he ascended. He was no longer merely their Teacher but their Lord. They knew him to be human but recognized him to be divine. Gazing into the sky, the Apostles began to understand that the Risen Christ was bringing our human nature to the heights of heaven where he is seated at God’s high hand. Once the Spirit descended upon Apostles at Pentecost, they would spend their lives proclaiming this fundamental truth, even to the ends of the earth, even at the cost of their lives.
If You’ve Ever Wondered . . .
Amid our fears, anxieties, and questions, let us immerse ourselves in the mystery of the Ascension. Let us celebrate as our eyes of faith see the Incarnate and Risen Lord bring our humanity to the very Throne of God, displaying it before the Father of Mercies, wounds and all, as he intercedes for us. Let us realize that whenever we share in the Sacrifice of the Mass, we are united with the Exalted Lord pleading for us at the Father’s right hand. The Feast of the Ascension teaches us what God thinks of us, how deeply he loves us, how he values our life, our humanity. Let us see our destiny in the Ascension: the goal of our existence, the purpose of our striving, the goal of our faith, our hope, and our love. For where the Risen and Exalted Lord has gone, there do we hope to follow.
If all this seems too ethereal or abstract, ask yourself about the alternative. Amid all of our striving, with our inbuilt instinct to preserve our lives, could it be that death is the last word about our existence? Is the grave is the final resting place of all that is noble and true? Do we not long to see our humanity glorified along with Christ’s and to dwell in the bosom of the Father immersed in the love of the Holy Spirit? This is the hope that should get us up in the morning, propel us to come to Mass on Sunday, prompt us to confess our sins regularly, cause us to embrace our vocations with dedication and love, and drive us forth to serve the needy and vulnerable.
Jubilee of Hope
Before he died, Pope Francis designated the year 2025 as a special Holy Year dedicated to hope, a Jubilee of Hope. This struck a chord in many hearts. With a pastor’s love, he sensed the anxiety and emptiness many feel. He knew that far too many people go through life feeling hopeless and desired to offer them something real to hope in and to rejoice over. Our new pope, Leo XIV, continues this year-long celebration of hope, proclaiming, as did his predecessor, “a hope that does not disappoint.”
Let us embrace the feast of the Ascension, the preeminent feast of hope, with joy, gratitude, and thanksgiving. And in the grace of this feast, let us resolve to live our daily lives, with their ups and downs, their fears, anxieties, and questions with our hearts fixed on what is above where the Risen Lord is seated in our humanity at God’s right hand. And may God bless us and keep us always in his love!