ASCENT TO A LASTING LIFE

 

Leaving the Mountaintop and Entering the Mission

As the Church celebrated the solemn feast of the Ascension yesterday, we were once again invited into a profound mystery—one that is often misunderstood, romanticized, or glossed over. The image of the disciples standing on the Mount of Olives, eyes lifted to the sky as Jesus ascends into the heavens, is captivating. Their posture is one of awe and confusion—a combination of wonder at what they are witnessing and an aching sense of farewell. The sight of the glorified Christ rising to the Father must have left them spellbound. And yet, almost immediately, two heavenly figures interrupt their gaze with a startling directive: “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky?” The message is clear: do not remain here. Go. Move. Act.

This command is at the heart of the Church’s mission. Evangelization is not a spectator sport. It requires “boots on the ground,” feet planted in the messy soil of human experience. The Ascension is not the end of Jesus’ story—it is the continuation of it through us. It is the moment when the Church is given her marching orders: to go back into the world, proclaim the Gospel, and participate in God’s ongoing work of redemption.

Theological Clarity amid Confusion

There is, admittedly, a good deal of confusion surrounding the Ascension. Too often it is treated as Jesus “disappearing” into the sky, as if Heaven were a place located somewhere up above the clouds. Ignorance acts as bliss. Let us be clear and be grounded.

But to understand the Ascension theologically, we must first remember who Jesus is. The Trinitarian God ­– Father, Son, Spirit, existed from eternity. The Son took human nature and was both fully divine and fully man. The eternal Son, consubstantial with the Father and the Spirit, entered our world through the Incarnation—taking on human nature in the womb of Mary. Of course, the Spirit did not contribute what a human father normally does. This has nothing to do with biology. His bodily Resurrection and subsequent Ascension are not a return to a purely “spiritual” existence, but rather the elevation of human nature itself into divine glory. The human Jesus is a new creation, and in the Ascension, that new creation is welcomed into the very heart of the Trinity.

This is no mere metaphor. It is the core of Christian hope: that our humanity has been taken up into God. And so the Ascension is not a withdrawal of God from the world, but rather a transformation of how God is now present. Jesus no longer walks beside us in the flesh, but through the Spirit, he lives within us. We are not simply ‘outsiders’ begging God for help—we are friends, sons, and daughters. The life of the Trinity has been opened to us. We pray from within God’s own life.

The Spirit and the Mission

The Ascension sets the stage for Pentecost. Jesus departs bodily so that he may send the Spirit—God’s love poured out upon creation in a radically new way. The Spirit-water, as St. Cyril of Jerusalem terms, which takes the form of that which it enters in, while remaining always uniform in essence,  hovers once again over the ‘waters’ of chaos, not to create the world as in Genesis, but to renew it from within. We All – living and non-living- are one with the divine. This outpouring of divine life is not generic; it is personal, historical, and mission-oriented.

We are part of a Church born from this Spirit. Evangelization is not just a program or strategy—it is participation in this divine movement. In the Gospel, Jesus prays for our unity with him and for us to be immersed in God’s love. As Jesus prayed, “that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and I in them” (John 17:26), we realize that we are immersed in this love, drawn into the very relationship that defines God: Father, Son, and Spirit. To evangelize, then, is not just to speak about God, but to radiate God, to be so united to Christ that we carry his presence into the world.

Duc in Altum: Go Out into the Deep

The mystery of the ascension is a continuation of this evolving new creation. In light of this, the call to Duc in altum—“Go out into the deep”—resonates even more. Evangelization requires boldness. It demands creativity. In a world increasingly disillusioned with religion, increasingly secularized and skeptical, the Church is called not to retreat but to go further, to cast her nets deeper. As we continue to live and celebrate this creative process, we have an exclusive new gift of the Spirit of God, hovering over the entire creation freely choosing to support the future of the universe with all its mankind with compassion and generosity of human collaborators. The increasing secularized culture and the world’s seismic drift away from faith and religion calls us to do more. This means embracing new forms of communication—creative narratives, films, digital platforms—to proclaim the truth, beauty, and goodness of the Gospel. But more importantly, it means making a gift of ourselves. The Ascension reminds us that Jesus gave his all, holding nothing back. Will we do the same? Will we support this mission with our prayers, our resources, and our very lives?

From Ego-Drama to Theo-Drama

There is a deeper cultural shift we must contend with. Bishop Barron rightly distinguishes between the ego-drama and the Theo-drama. The ego-drama is our own story, one in which we are the star, the director, the producer. This is the dominant narrative of our age: be who you want to be, create your own truth, follow your desires. But the Ascension invites us into the Theo-drama—the great story authored by God, the drama of salvation history in which each of us has a unique and irreplaceable role.

Mary exemplifies this beautifully. When she received her divine mission from Gabriel, she did not hesitate. She rose “in haste” to visit Elizabeth—not just out of politeness, but because she had found her role in the divine story. She needed to share the joy. She was propelled forward by grace. Like Mary, we too must rise “with haste” and step into our mission—to carry Christ to others, especially in the socio-political and cultural arenas of our time.

Living the Mystery

The mystery of the Ascension is not an escape from the world but a call into it. Jesus ascends not to abandon us but to empower us. He departs so that we can become his body, his ‘limbs’ (St. Theresa of Avila) animated by his Spirit, continuing his mission on earth.

In a time of uncertainty and increasing secular disaffection, we are tempted to look longingly into the skies, hoping for divine intervention. But the angels’ message remains: “Why do you stand here looking up?” We must go. We must return to the city, to the streets, to our families, our schools, our media, and our governments. That is where the Theo-drama unfolds.

The Ascension is not about absence but an ascent to a higher living. It’s about presence—transformed, universal, and empowering. Christ is not gone. He is closer than ever. The question is: are we ready to move with him from within? Like Mary, can we too be in haste to take up our roles in the great story of salvation?