The
Solemnity of the LORD’s Ascension presents challenges to the faithful,
and to preachers. If one were preaching only to children, perhaps one
could rely on a retelling of the picture-stories of the Ascension in
the Gospels and especially in the Acts of the Apostles: Jesus was
lifted up behind a cloud, and became invisible to them. (Such an image
is easily depicted in art, requiring little imagination or
understanding.) Children need such sensuous images to grasp anything
of Christian teaching, but as our minds mature, we become restless with
such images, and desire to understand the meaning of the event
celebrated. Indeed, faith requires a searching mind, not a mere
child’s ascent to “the truths of the faith.” And if we exercise faith,
then we begin to ask questions, which may at first seem clumsy, but
with practice, improve: Did Jesus Christ physically leave the earth?
Where is he now? Could Christ have left physically, in order to be more
present in spirit? And to what did Jesus ascend? Is he now one with
God? Is Christ still distinct from God, or has he somehow merged with
the Divine that in Christian tradition is called “the Father?”
Begin with the basic experience of faith: the presence of God, often symbolized as Christ, in the soul of the inquiring mind. If Christ were not present, how could one believe? If Christ were not at work in the believer, how could his words be recognized as true? For he said (MT 28): “Behold, I AM with you always, even to the end of the age.” If you truly believe, then you are aware that God / Christ is with you. And if Christ is with his faithful ones, then he is not really absent except physically. Although absent bodily, Christ is present spiritually, to the mind of the inquiring man or woman, to the loving heart. “If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father....”
Just as when one’s beloved dies, the one remaining on earth must “let go” as a gift of true love, so it is with Christ: In our love for Christ, we do not seek him out in time or place, or try to contact him physically or with a real emotional experience. We do not hold a seance to hear Jesus speak to us. Rather, our hearts must rise by the practice of trust in God, as we acknowledge that Jesus Christ, the One, is now to be found, not here or there, but fully in the Unknown God. And one enters into the presence of God only through “faith working by love.”
“Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know me....?”
Begin with the basic experience of faith: the presence of God, often symbolized as Christ, in the soul of the inquiring mind. If Christ were not present, how could one believe? If Christ were not at work in the believer, how could his words be recognized as true? For he said (MT 28): “Behold, I AM with you always, even to the end of the age.” If you truly believe, then you are aware that God / Christ is with you. And if Christ is with his faithful ones, then he is not really absent except physically. Although absent bodily, Christ is present spiritually, to the mind of the inquiring man or woman, to the loving heart. “If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father....”
Just as when one’s beloved dies, the one remaining on earth must “let go” as a gift of true love, so it is with Christ: In our love for Christ, we do not seek him out in time or place, or try to contact him physically or with a real emotional experience. We do not hold a seance to hear Jesus speak to us. Rather, our hearts must rise by the practice of trust in God, as we acknowledge that Jesus Christ, the One, is now to be found, not here or there, but fully in the Unknown God. And one enters into the presence of God only through “faith working by love.”
“Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know me....?”
