Homily for the Ascension: Advancing the Kingdom of Heaven

Ascension, C                                                                                                               May 29, 2022
Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette

Where did he go? Jesus is “lifted up” in the first reading until a cloud takes him from sight. The Gospel tells us he “was taken up to heaven.” So, do we believe that heaven is up there, in the clouds somewhere? Did Jesus go up like a rocket ship into outer space until he reached some distant planet where heaven is?

Of course not. But to this day, we talk about heaven as being “above” us and think of going to heaven as going up to the sky. Non-believers even mock us for our belief in a “old man in the clouds.” But that misses something, doesn’t it? Maybe you can’t put it into words, but you probably know deep down that Jesus ascending into heaven is not really about going to the sky. Is it just a mythical symbol then?

Not quite. What non-believers are missing – what even many believers are missing – is the idea of sacramentality. I don’t just mean the seven sacraments. I’m talking about how we look at all of reality. We have a sacramental worldview… or at least we should. What does the ascension tell us about this sacramental worldview? And how should live this sacramentality out in daily life?

Now, when I say “sacramental,” I mean something that is a visible sign of an invisible reality. It’s kind of like a symbol, but a little more than that. An example is your own body. It is a sacramental sign of you as a person. We cannot see your personhood directly, but in seeing your body, we are seeing you in some way.

That’s sort of what’s going on with the sky-heaven thing. There is no altitude that brings us to heaven, but when we look up… when we think about the vast expansiveness of the sky and it’s beauty… when we think about outer space and it’s suggestion of infinity… it sort of makes present to us the existence of the infinitely beautiful infinity of heaven where God dwells. Going up, the sky, the clouds… these are sacramental signs to us of heaven.

And it’s not just the sky. All of creation has a sacramentality to it… pointing beyond itself to the creator in an infinite number of ways that cannot be summed up in words. I cannot tell you what a coral reef tells us about God, but it suggests something. I cannot tell you what the Crab Nebula says about God, but it suggests something.

Yet some things do have more manifest connections. Sky and space with heaven… the deep lava underground with hell… the human person with God’s own image. Human gestures and words tie into this, especially with the seven capital ‘S’ Sacraments. Then there’s what Jesus does in the Gospel: He “raised his hands, and blessed them.”

As a matter of fact, the technical term for a blessing is a “sacramental.” Like the capital ‘S’ Sacraments, sacramentals have words and gestures and rituals, but they are less formal and far more numerous. Blessings, in general, are used to foster a good relationship between the one blessing and the one being blessed. They are signs of favor and prayers for the favor to manifest in various ways. In this case, the Gospel tells us that “As [Jesus] blessed them he parted from them and was taken up to heaven.” It’s demonstrating that there is a connection, a bridge, a relationship between heaven and earth through the Apostles.

When you put the Gospel and Acts of the Apostles together, you get a sacramental sign of just what is going on. The apostles asked Jesus about restoring the kingdom of Israel. He seems to deflect them, but then immediately gives them a mission and promises them power. When is he going to restore the kingdom of Israel, the Kingdom of God’s chosen people? He’s already begun.

Another thing about blessings is that they are also expressions of power and authority. Parents bless their children, priests bless their congregation, kings bless their subjects. By blessing them while going to heaven, he is showing us sacramentally that we are the kingdom. Jesus is not just going to heaven, he is sending heaven to earth. So we are made witnesses, proclaimers of repentance for the sake of establishing the kingdom of heaven on earth. Indeed, that’s one way to think of all blessings… as a kind of sacramental planting of the flag… claiming aspects of the world and of our lives for the kingdom of heaven.

This is one reason Mass ends with a blessing and the command to “go forth.” If the sky is a sacramental sign of heaven, the church building, the sanctuary in the church, the celebration of the Mass are much more so. After making heaven sacramentally present on earth, we are given a blessing and a commission to take what we’ve experienced and bear witness to the rest of the world that the Kingdom of Heaven is here… and it’s here to conquer the world.

The Ascension of Jesus is not an afterthought. It is the triumphant proclamation of victory over sin and death. It is the warrior-king of heaven rising to his throne to oversee his invasion of the fallen world.

This brings us to that second question: how do we put this into practice? Worship and Repentance. Part of our “to-do list” is simply to recognize these spiritual truths and praise God for them. Knowing Jesus for what he is is part of what we do. You are a sacramental sign of Jesus the king. If you demonstrate his glory in your worship of him, you are helping to build up and reveal God’s kingdom on earth. Does your daily life look like you believe in a risen king who loves you personally? Do you let the blessings of the Church claim aspects of your life for God?

Repentance is a necessary part of this. The glory of God is man fully alive… free from sin and error. Are you still on earth? Then you are not done repenting. This must spill over to advancing the kingdom of God which is the kingdom of love. Because we love others, we call them to repentance. Not with pride or a sense of superiority, but in the way a freed slave would joyfully show the way out to those still trapped… even being a bit forceful when they were reluctant to attempt escape.

Worship and repentance require each other. The angel tells the apostles to stop staring at the sky… but then they go to the temple to do what? Praise and worship God. Then they turn to the crowds to proclaim repentance, always returning back to worship before going back to proclamation.

The Ascension of Jesus Christ lifts the veil on the material world, showing us sacramentally just how deeply meaning is written into everything… if you have eyes to see. So go ahead and look at the sky to think of heaven and praise him for it. But do not stop there… because the heaven hidden behind the sky is in you by faith, hope, and love. So spread that kingdom. Increase your faith through study and worship. Increase your hope by daily repentance and regular confession. Increase your love by seeing and serving God in others through kindness… especially the kindness of calling them into the freedom God’s kingdom.

Jesus will return from the sky that both veils and reveals heaven to make his kingdom complete. When he does, where will we find ourselves? Sacramental members of the kingdom present through worship and repentance? Or somewhere else?