“And when he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.” And we pray in today’s Opening Prayer: “Where the head has gone before in glory, the body is called to follow in hope.”
The Solemnity of the Ascension brings together a number of big beliefs. Firstly, that we form part of the body of Christ, as St Paul taught in his epistles. Christ is the head, we are the members. It’s not just a metaphor: it’s a living, organic reality. When we are baptised we enter spiritually into Christ’s body. So if Christ the head has gone up to heaven, we hope to follow.
Then the reality of Our Lord’s Ascension. After his Resurrection, Jesus spent 40 days on earth, eating and drinking with his disciples, teaching them. And then at the end of those days he returned to heaven with his human, glorious body. As we say in the Creed every Sunday, “he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.”
It is striking how today’s readings weave together the weakness and narrowness of vision of Christ’s disciples and the power of Our Lord in heaven. On earth the disciples are still over-concerned about the political kingdom of Israel, and others still doubt the Resurrection. And while the cloud hiding Christ as he ascends points to his hiddenness, today’s readings also insist on his power and authority in heaven. “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” Jesus sits at the Father’s “right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come,” as the second reading teaches. God “has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the Church”.
The psalm tells us that it has come up with "trumpet call". to be "king over the nations" y "reign on his holy throne". Hidden God and human frailty on the one hand, divine power in heaven on the other. And it is precisely in this context that Our Lord sends us: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations."promising us that he will be with us "every day, until the end of time".
But is this not the ongoing dynamic of the Church’s life? In the weakness of her members and leaders but with the power of Christ in heaven, the Church goes forward in her evangelising mission. Jesus seems invisible, as if in another faraway dimension, yet he remains close to us, inspiring our actions, supporting us in our fragility.
Our vision may be so limited but God knows where he is going and where he is taking us. The life of the Church seems characterised by the failures of its members, the body, but the head rules supreme in heaven, united to the Father and guiding all to his glory.
