The Feast of the Ascension:
Rising with Christ, From the Heart
Forty days after Easter, we celebrate the Feast of the Ascension, a moment both awe-inspiring and deeply personal. It’s the day we remember Jesus being taken up into heaven, right before the eyes of His disciples (Acts 1:9). But this feast is more than just a story about Jesus going. The Ascension is a profound invitation: to rise, to grow, and to discover God not only above but within us.
The Ascension isn’t simply about Jesus “leaving”. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. He returns to the Father with our humanity, bearing the wounds of His suffering. And that changes everything. It means that our humanity, wounded, loved, and redeemed, is now part of heaven’s glory.
isn’t just symbolic. It’s a message of deep hope: we’re not stuck here below. Our lives, our struggles, our bodies, our stories – they’re all destined for something greater. As the Catechism reminds us, “Jesus Christ, the head of the Church, goes before us into the Father’s kingdom so that we, the members of His Body, may live in the hope of being with Him forever” (CCC 666). That’s powerful. It means that we belong where He is.
Still, the disciples were probably confused, maybe even heartbroken. They had just gotten Jesus back after the crucifixion. And now, He disappears again. But an angel says to them, “Why are you standing here looking up at the sky?” (Acts 1:11). In other words: don’t just stand there. Something new is happening. Get ready.
Jesus had space for the Spirit. Now, God isn’t only “out there”. He’s also in here, within each of us. We move from watching Jesus walk beside us to experiencing Him in our hearts.
That’s a major shift, one we all experience in our spiritual journeys. Sometimes, we feel God’s presence very clearly. Other times, He seems far away. The Ascension reminds us that those quiet, empty times aren’t signs that God is gone. There may be signs that He’s drawing us deeper, asking us to trust Him more from within.
There’s a very human message here too. Psychologically, the Ascension shows us how hard it is to let go of what’s familiar, comforting, or clear. The disciples had to let go of seeing Jesus face to face so they could receive the Spirit and grow in their mission.
We face the same challenge. Letting go of what we know, even spiritually, can be scary. But it’s often the only way we grow. We learn to trust God not just in external signs or emotional highs but in the quiet presence that stays with us through all of life’s ups and downs.
There are moments when life doesn’t make sense, when prayer feels dry, or when God seems silent. But these are not signs of absence. They are invitations to mature faith, to believe that God is working deep within us, even when we don’t see it.
So what does the Ascension mean for us, here and now?
It means we don’t have to wait until heaven to start living in Christ. He’s already with us, in every moment, every breath. The Ascension isn’t about Jesus leaving the world. It’s about Him filling it in a new way. Through us. Through the Church. alive in our hearts.
So maybe today, we stop looking to the sky for signs and start looking around us and within us. Because Christ is here. Now. In our joys, our work, our pain, our relationships, our silence.
As we live with that truth, we rise from the depths of our soul, not just at the end of time, but today.
As Jesus promised:
“I am with you always, even to the end of time.” (Matthew 28:20)
