Ascension Homily 2009 (May 21)
Given by Abbot Caedmon Holmes, O.S.B.

Christ's "Passover," the Paschal Mystery, makes one complete arc, which, in our thinking, we divide up into several moments or events, because in its entirety it's too much for us to take in all at one time.  We began the solemn yearly celebration of it on the evening of Holy Thursday, six weeks ago.  We relived his suffering and death and his resurrection, and his appearances to his friends after the resurrection. We considered, one by one, the Last Supper, the Agony in the Garden, the arrest, the trial, the Crucifixion, the burial, the Resurrection.

Another moment in the Paschal Mystery is the Ascension of Jesus upward into heaven as his disciples watched (which we celebrate on this fortieth day from Easter Sunday).  It is  the visible acting out of the fact that by dying for us and being raised from the dead for us the man Jesus has received from the Father's hand the Lordship over the universe. This particular individual human being contains the meaning of human life and of all reality, and is the destiny of all that is.  St. Paul says it by saying that God "has put all things beneath his feet."  We express it in the Creed by saying that he is coming in glory to be the judge both of the living and of the dead.

So the universe does have a God-given meaning, and what a meaning!  History is heading somewhere, and not to an ending which is cold, impersonal, and oblivious of the human race.  Far from it!

In the gospel passage we have just now heard, right before his ascension, Jesus tells his apostles to bring this good news, the Gospel, to every creature.  "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved." 

The sacrament of Baptism, received  (of course) with faith, is the way of being joined to him, becoming one body with him.  One of the ancient Church fathers says, "Now that he has ascended, his visible presence has passed over into the sacraments."

Though he has, for the time being, gone out of this world in his human body (a human body like ours), with his human psyche (the same as ours), to enjoy the uninterrupted face-to-face communion with God which is utterly beyond our imagining, yet still he is present to us in the Church, working with those who preach him, confirming their preaching with wonderful signs, speaking to us in his word and entering into us as mystical food in the Holy Eucharist to nourish us, building us up to be what he is, to his full stature.  He is, after all, entirely for God and, at one and the same time, entirely for you and me.

How good it is to listen to him, to ponder on his deeds and words, to join him in worship of the Father.  How lucky we are to feed on him in the sacred liturgy of the Church (as we're doing now) and in private prayer.  How fortunate we are to know that it's worth it to keep trying to live in imitation of him, as he taught, and to witness to others about him.  That simple and great saint, Francis of Assisi, said, "At all times be preaching the Gospel; if necessary, even use words."

We are Christ's Body:  his ascension is our promotion; where he, our Head, has gone, we, the members of his Body, are called to follow; and we are given the most trustworthy assurance that we will get there.

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