Jesus leaves his disciples with a blessing: "And as he blessed them, he parted from them, and was carried up into heaven.". And this led the apostles to feel a "great joy". For Our Lord did not leave His Church in anger, with a call to war. He left with a blessing, pouring out grace and goodness. But he also left them with the "power" to carry out this mission: "Stay in the city until you are clothed with the strength that comes from above.". He left them spiritually armed, but it is not a question of political or military power, but of the action of the Holy Spirit in their souls, the Spirit of love that descended upon them at Pentecost. And, indeed, the "witness" of the Church, Jesus says, must be that of his love: the love that led him to suffer and die for us; a love that was stronger than death, so that he rose again on the third day; a love that offers men the possibility of repentance; and a love that is willing to trust and empower weak men to become agents of God's mercy by receiving it themselves.
All this is the message of today's great solemnity, the Ascension. Christ has left us not to go away from us, but to remain close to us, to open a channel to heaven. We can ascend to heaven in the "gliding stream" that Jesus created in his own Ascension. Just as when Jesus' heart, lifted up on the Cross, was pierced, a channel of love was opened so that we could reach his heart. So now, Jesus lifted up to heaven opens a channel to eternal life. As today's opening prayer says: "the Ascension of Christ, your Son, is our exaltation, and, where the Head has gone before in glory, the Body is called to follow in hope.".
The first reading shows that the apostles - even they! - still wanted a political kingdom of Israel even up to the time of the Ascension: "Lord, is it now that you are going to restore the kingdom of Israel?". Christ offers a kingdom that goes beyond a specific territory, including "to the ends of the earth". It reaches even to heaven. Our Lord invites us to adopt a "spiritual geography" that includes heaven and is truly "catholic", universal.
There is a better highway than the man-made ones, the highway to heaven, which is now open. We must look up and aim for heaven, but act with our feet on the ground, as the angels who met the apostles reminded them. "when they were staring at the sky". Aim for the sky, but don't look at the stars. The desire for heaven leads to practical action. It is never an evasion of our duties.
