Why Are You Staring at the Sky?

Gospel Commentary for Feast of the Ascension

By Father Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM Cap

ROME, MAY 2, 2008 (Zenit.org).- In the first reading an angel says to the disciples: "Men of Galilee, why are you staring at the sky? This Jesus, who was taken up from among you and assumed into heaven, shall one day return in the same way in which you saw him go to heaven."

This is an occasion to clarify once and for all what we mean by "heaven." Among almost all people, heaven indicates the habitation of the divinity. Even the Bible uses this spatial language: "Glory to God in the highest heaven and peace to men on earth."

With the advent of the scientific era, all these religious meanings attributed to the word "heaven" are now in crisis. The heavens are the space in which our planet and the whole solar system moves, and nothing else. We all have heard of the remark attributed to the Soviet astronaut after returning from his trip through the cosmos: "I traveled through outer space a long time and didn't see God anywhere!"

It is important therefore to try to clarify what we Christians mean when we say "Our Father who art in heaven," or when we say that someone "went to heaven." In these cases the Bible adapts itself to the common way of speaking (we do it today too, even in the scientific era, when we say that the sun "rises" and "sets"). But the Bible knows well and teaches that God is "in heaven, on earth and everywhere," that he is the one who "created the heavens" and, if he created them, cannot be "contained" by them. That God is "in the heavens" means that he "dwells in inaccessible light," that he is as far beyond us "as the heavens are above the earth."

We Christians also agree that in talking about heaven as God's dwelling place we understand it more as a state of being than a place. When we speak about God it would be nonsense to say that he is literally "above" or "below," "up" or "down." We are not therefore saying that heaven doesn't exist but only that we lack the categories with which to adequately represent it. Suppose we ask a person who is blind from birth to describe the different colors to us: red, green, blue. ... He could not tell us anything since we only perceive colors through our eyes. This is what it is like for us in regard to "heaven" and to eternal life, which is outside space and time.

In light of what we have said, what does it mean to proclaim that Jesus "ascended into heaven"? We find the answer in the Creed. "He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father."

That Christ has ascended into heaven means that he "is seated at the right hand of the Father," that is, as man too, he has entered into God's world; that he has been constituted the Lord and head of all things, as St. Paul says in the second reading.

In regard to us, "going to heaven" or going to "paradise" means going and being "with Christ" (Philippians 1:23). Our heaven is the risen Christ together with whom we shall form a "body" after our resurrection but also, in a provisional and imperfect way, immediately after our death. It is sometimes objected that no one has returned from heaven to assure us that it truly exists and is not just a pious illusion. It's not true! There is one who -- if we know how to recognize him -- returns from heaven every day in the Eucharist to assure us and to renew his promises.

The words of the angel -- "Men of Galilee, why are you staring at the sky?" -- also contain an implicit reproof: We should not just "stare into the sky" and speculate about the beyond, but rather we should live in expectation of his return, follow his mission, bring the Gospel to the ends of the earth, improve life in this world.

He has gone to heaven but without leaving earth. He has only disappeared from our field of vision. Indeed in the Gospel he himself assures us: "Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the world."

[Translation by Joseph G. Trabbic]

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Father Raniero Cantalamessa is the Pontifical Household preacher. The readings for this Sunday are Acts 1:1-11; Ephesians 1:17-23; Matthew 28:16-20.

"I am with you always; yes, to the end of time." Far from having left us on our own when he ascended into heaven, Jesus is closer to us now. He is with us at all times and in all places, releasing a new energy upon the earth, the energy of the Holy Spirit to preach his Good News of salvation by bearing witness to him. The readings for the Feast of the Ascension remind us of this

With his return to the Father, Jesus completes his mission on earth. His apparent withdrawal at the Ascension does not mean his absence from us, however, but rather His new presence in us and in the Church, in a more powerful manner, in the form of the indwelling presence of His Holy Spirit.. Although risen and ascended, he is still with us through the grace of the sacraments. He is present in the Eucharist when we receive Holy Communion and in the tabernacle where the Eucharist is reserved for prayer. While Jesus is no longer present in a physical sense (we cannot touch him, feel him or take hold of him) he is accessible now as a life-giving Spirit. We are his new presence. In the descriptions of Christ after his resurrection, we are given a hint of what life will be like in heaven. But it is in his Ascension that we see him entering fully into the life and glory of God. The prospect of sharing that glory should be the driving force of our lives.

"Preach the good news and be my witnesses:"
1) “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8). 2) “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.” (Matthew 28:19). 3) “Go into the entire world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation” (Mark.16:15). These are the last words of Jesus as recorded in Matthew, Mark and Acts. All are in agreement that (a) Jesus gave his disciples a mission to engage in, until he returns in glory, and (b) he assured them of His divine assistance in the carrying out of this mission.

Jesus taught us lessons of faith, hope, forgiveness, mercy, redemption and love. We cannot put these lessons on a shelf and ignore them. Christianity was never meant to be a merely private religion, a simple communication between the soul and Jesus. It was meant to be a faith in which Jesus’ followers help and care for others, just as Jesus had done. This is the reason for the rather stern message given by the angels to the disciples as Jesus ascended: " men of Galilee, why stand here gazing up into heavens?" These words suggest that the disciples must get on with the work Jesus had given them to do by living true Christian lives in deed as well as in word. However, the spreading of the Good News to all nations is not a goal that can be attained by human might and craft. That is why Jesus promised to empower his messengers with His abiding presence through his Holy Spirit. We must learn to be humble and let the Holy Spirit lead the way.

The ascended Jesus is our source of strength and encouragement: It is very clear that in the eyes of God it is a wonderful and a holy thing to be a human being. This is one reason we should treat ourselves, and one another, with care and with great respect. The Ascension, the fact that God has brought into himself one who is fully human; this can remind us that simply being a human being is a sacred thing, never to be abused or taken lightly. When we approach God in prayer, it is important to remember that we are dealing with one who remembers what it is like to hurt and to laugh, to pray and to hunger, to be lost and afraid, to celebrate and to mourn; God remembers what it is like to live and what it is like to die. So we are able to approach God, to reach out to God and to look for the presence and will of God, with confidence and with joy. For as we turn toward God, we are not only dealing with the creator of the universe and the ruler of all time and of eternity; we are also drawing near to the one who lived our life and who has shared our fate. We are coming near to one who knows us and who cares. We are coming home. When the trials of life feel too heavy to bear, remember also that Christ will come again in glory, the same glory in which he arose from the tomb, the same glory in which he ascended, and the same glory in which he currently abides