After 40 days, Christ returns to His Father's house. He ceases to be visibly present on earth but He is in the form of bread and in the hearts of the faithful in the church.
He continues to work on earth in the preaching of the Gospel which indicates the purpose of our journey and He still offers us His Mercy.
In other words, it is the beginning of Christ's pulling back from His active Ministry of the church.
Today's celebration also aims to show us the purpose of our journey to Heaven.
Many times we have heard about heaven. We have some conceptions of heaven, and we yearn for heaven in the sky and that after a difficult life we will have rest and peace.
We believe that heaven is the real joy and fulfillment of our dreams of meeting God there.
So Heaven is God.
But we are still on earth, and our job is to seek Heaven.
We just heard "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."
This task does not rest only on the successors of the Apostles not only on the priests who preach the Gospel but primarily on we who have adopted the same priesthood at the moment of our baptism.
Theological education is nothing and nothing in the church leadership is a substitute for the testimony of witnessing Christ in our life.
The best homily is our life a life of goodness, faith, authenticity and leading or pulling others to Christ.
This possibility is mostly for lay people who in their daily lives meet with many people, not just Catholics.
With this knowledge about Heaven, we will become the only ones who can extend our hands and our words so that He is known in the world.
Benedict XVI wrote what does the Ascension mean?
This means that the faith of Christ the man came into contact with the inner essence of God.
Heaven is not a place but the Presence of God in man.
After this event, the disciples returned to their homes praising God.
So let us go with the same convictions that Christ is God who is still active in His church and that we are not alone in the building of His Kingdom.
Fr. Tom
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