Ascension Thursday, Year A

When I was in the 4th grade, I remember that I wanted to be an explorer! I can recall vividly my 4th grade teacher asking us what we wanted to be when we grew up, and I enthusiastically knew that I wanted to be just like the great explorers of history.

I had gotten to admire the great names of Magellan, Ericson, de Soto, de Leon, Joliet, Champlain, Cortez and so forth. St Brandon, who was an Irish abbot, was a sailor. Legend has it that he was indeed the first one to have discovered North America, not Christopher Columbus. It is also told that on one of his voyages, he celebrated mass on the back of a whale!

I wanted to be just like them. I wanted to see lands that were never seen before. I wanted to feel wind blowing through my hair that had never blown through the hair of man. I wanted to be shaded by trees that never offered shade to a soul before. I wanted. I wanted to taste foods that never passed by the lips of man before. I wanted to shake hands with natives that had never shook a hand before. I wanted to find great kingdoms where kings ruled in peaceful harmony.

I wanted to make every unknown a known

I wanted to break all barriers to all treasures, glory, joy, happiness and peace

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Ascension.

Today we celebrate perhaps the greatest discovery - The Heavenly Glory.

Christ, in ascending into Heaven in body, soul and divinity broke the barrier of heaven and earth. In His ascension, we see now that heaven in for us and we are for heaven! No more is the reality of life after death a dismal Sheol, but now we know that life is eternal and it is eternal in heaven with the Father whom we now see, with the Holy Spirit who will come to us at Pentecost and with Christ who is in us and whom we are in.

Jesus Christ is showing us every possible treasure and joy that we could possibly discover and enjoy. The Ascension is showing us what our ultimate destination is - Heaven to live with God glorified. The earthly journey, thus, is that indeed, a journey. We need to live our lives with that end in sight, not living as if this world is all there is. This is not an easy task, that why Jesus promised us that after He was not going to be with us any longer in human form, He was going to send us an Advocate to show us and guide us in ways that are true.

Our life on earth needs be a a constant journey of exploration to see what has been revealed to us by the Ascended Christ. Christ has shown us a reality that is beyond any human achievement or discovery.