Lesson from Fr. Paulus | The Ascension Shows Christ as All-Powerful and All-Good

Before the very eyes of his closest followers, 40 days after his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ ascended body and soul into heaven. What exactly does this word "ascended" mean? As we know, every year on August 15, we celebrate a different feast: Mary's assumption into heaven. The Catechism tells us: Mary was assumed into heaven - was assumed.

There's a difference here: Christ ascends; Mary is assumed. Christ is God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity become man. He is both fully God and fully man, a mystery so great that we cannot understand it completely.

Mary is immaculate (free from sin), and she is also the Mother of Christ and therefore properly honored as the Mother of God. But still, she is only human; she does not possess the divine nature, as Christ does. Therefore, she could not cause herself to ascend into heaven, as Christ did. Instead, God had to take her up into heaven, and so we say that she was assumed.

Christ's ascension, in other words, reveals his divinity, just as his resurrection did. Many people throughout salvation history have been raised or have raised others from the dead with the help of God's power. But only Christ rose from the dead on his own.

As true God, he holds power over life and death; he is omnipotent, all-powerful, "almighty" as we say each week in the Creed. And as true man, Jesus used that omnipotence to conquer death for our sake, to win our salvation, to redeem us. By bringing redeemed human nature up into heaven, he showed that along with being all-powerful, he is also all-good, all-loving.

Christ's ascension, then, reminds us that there is no limit to the confidence we can have in our God, because there is no limit to his power and goodness.

ILLUSTRATION: Forrest Gump Gets Something Right

In 1994 Hollywood released a popular film called "Forrest Gump," starring Tom Hanks. The film can be base at times but has some interesting insights. At one point in the story, when Forrest is feeling rejected by the people he loves, he gets an urge to just start running.

So, he walks out the door, jogs across the yard, and doesn't stop. In fact, when he gets to the ocean and runs out of road, he just turns around and runs the other way.

Throughout his run, he is videotaped on national news. Many people asked why he's running. What is the reason; "World peace? Women's rights?" But he simply answers, "I'm just running." Unintentionally, he sparks a huge national following.

The humorous and meaningful event that ends his journey takes place in the middle of a desert. Forrest stops, longhaired and long bearded, and turns around.

The handful of sweaty joggers who have followed him shush each other: "Quiet, he's goanna say something." "I'm kind a' tired," he says, "I think I'll go home now." Forrest walks through the small and silent crowd, and one of them yells after him, "Well, what are we supposed to do?!"

All people are looking for the answers to life's deepest questions. But since our thirst for truth and happiness is infinite (because that's how God made us), no finite worldly thing can satisfy us.

The characters in the film mindlessly following Tom Hanks' Gump personified that thirst for meaning. The fact that their hero abandons them without any explanation illustrates the inability of the things of this world (money, fame, politics, pleasure) to provide that meaning; eventually, we get tired of them; they let us down.

Only Christ is infinite goodness, power, and wisdom; only he is "the Way, Truth, and the Life" that we are searching for.

APPLICATION: Sharing the "God-News"

Today the Church is inviting us to reflect on this great mystery of our faith, Christ's ascension into heaven. As we do so, we should feel our confidence in God renewed and strengthened.

Jesus is ruling history right now. None of the difficulties, injustices, and problems that we face as individuals, families, and societies is outside of his knowledge or power.

He is at work in all things, even if it is sometimes hard for us to see exactly how. As today's Mass prayers remind us: "Christ, the mediator between God and man, judge of the world and Lord of all, has passed beyond our sight, not to abandon us but to be our hope" (Preface for Ascension I).

How can we express this hope, this confidence in God? By sharing it with others. Jesus didn't tell his followers that he was "one of the many ways, truths, and lives that are out there." And none of the other founders of world religions rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, and let their Resurrection and Ascension be witnessed by hundreds of followers.

Only Jesus Christ is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good. Only his mercy can heal hearts that have been wounded by sin and evil. Only his wisdom can untangle the moral knots that today's secular culture has tied in the minds of our neighbors. And we know Jesus Christ! We are the ones who can share the good news with those who don't!

When Jesus ascended into heaven, he didn't take the members of his Church with him. Instead, he entrusted his mission to their care: "Go out to the whole world...!" he said as he ascended.

That mission, to follow Christ and help others do the same, is still in full swing today. It's in our hands, and if to fulfill our part we do our best, surely God will do the rest.