The Ascension
Image
from http://whycatholicsdothat.com/ascension/
Yesterday we celebrated the Feast of the Ascension of the
Lord. This, of course, refers to Jesus’s
ascending to Heaven 40 days after His Resurrection, as recounted in Acts
1:6-12. We meditate on this Mystery
every time we pray the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary, but I wonder how often
we recognize the importance this event has in our understanding of the
Incarnation.
Many times I hear converts say that they never really plumbed
the depths of the mystery of the Incarnation until they became Catholic. They had recognized that Jesus took on a
human nature so He could die and atone for sin, but they never realized the
full implications.
I do not pretend to plumb those depths here, but I would
offer one thing to consider. When Jesus
Ascended to Heaven, He did so with both His Divine and Human Natures. In other words, in Heaven, Jesus remains the
God-Man.
Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, the Second Person of
the Blessed Trinity, took on a human nature 2,000 years ago in the womb of his
mother, and He still has it. He did not divest
Himself of that nature after the Resurrection.
He ascended into Heaven with it.
Archbishop Fulton Sheen points out that the Ascension is a clear
indication that our human nature is not a barrier to Heaven.
Imagine God becoming Man.
Really, imagine it. Though He
remains God, He is truly man, and not only temporarily, not only as an actor
might don a costume to perform a role; He truly becomes man. God, who is completion, perfection, pure
Being, ascended to Heaven, with a human nature, as we have a human nature, to
prepare a place for us.
We could meditate on this forever. What does it mean, then, to be human? How incredibly intimate our relationship with
God can be! How humble is our God, and
what incredible Love must He have for us, that He would become one of us? May this feast, and those beautiful ones
upcoming - Pentecost, Corpus Christi, the Sacred Heart, the Most Holy Trinity –
lead us to deeper prayer, understanding, and love of God.
Note: If you have a thought to add to this reflection, or if I have lacked
precision or included any theological error in this post, please email me at
servantofcharity@yahoo.com
