The great feast day of hope!

Today the Church celebrates the Solemn Feast of the Ascension of Jesus into Heaven. (Some Dioceses celebrate the Solemnity this Sunday) The Feast of the Ascension is the primary feast day of our community because it is the great feast of hope! Today our Sisters will be celebrating the Good News that Jesus has risen from the dead, he is very much alive and with His resurrected body he has returned to God, the Father and is seated in great glory at the Father’s right hand.

“After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it." (Mark 16:19-20)

As Christians, as Catholics, we are called to live in Jesus, to share in the entire mystery of Christ and hence to share in his glorification. He said this himself: “I go to prepare a place for you, and when I go…I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am, you may also be.” (Jn 14:2-3)

Quoting from Volume II of “Divine Intimacy” (Ignatius Press): “The Ascension is a strong support for hope for us who feel ourselves exiles in our pilgrimage through life, and who suffer from being far from God... Christian teaching allows us to believe and to cherish the firm hope that the faithful today, who share in Christ’s death through life’s tribulations, will one day also share in his eternal glory.”

But we don’t have to wait for eternity to be with Jesus. As he ascended, Jesus assured his disciples and us as well: “Know that I am with you always, until the end of the world.” (Mt 28:20) He is with us – always – while we are here on earth – and forever in the life to come! He is our hope!