Letter for the year
The Ascension, stained-glass window by Brother Eric of Taizé
The ascension of Jesus is an event that is not immediately accessible for the mentality of our day. The celebration of the Ascension which remains most present to my heart is the one I attended with two of my brothers in 2006 in Moscow, presided over by Patriarch Alexy II.
The Orthodox Churches have kept alive across the centuries the celebration of the mysteries of the faith, in great fidelity to the Fathers of the Church. It is first of all in prayer, whether liturgical action or a movement of the heart, that Orthodox Christians gain access to the content of the faith: the incarnation of Christ, his death and resurrection, his ascension to the Father, the continual presence of the Holy Spirit in the Church. And it is from liturgical contemplation of the mystery of the Holy Trinity that Orthodoxy draws the sense of the greatness of the human being, called to be transfigured with Christ already here on earth.
How can we understand the event of the ascension? Using the language and images that were available at the time it was written, the Bible says that Jesus, forty days after his resurrection, was taken up to heaven. His companions, after a time of intense and very special communion with him, had to consent to being separated from him. They remembered that he had clearly announced to them: “It is better for you that I go” (John 16:7). Why? So that the Holy Spirit can come, as a presence that will dwell within them: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you” (Acts 1:8).
After the ascension the disciples went through a time of worry; they were disoriented. We too know times when we feel abandoned, left to our own limited forces, waiting for “power from on high.” It would be given to them on the day of Pentecost.
The disciples would also gradually understand that the ascension is not just something that affects Jesus; it has a meaning for them and for everyone. By returning to God, Jesus opens for all humanity a path where beforehand one did not exist. The ascension of Jesus shows that his humanity is forever in God, and then the promise is renewed (already contained in the incarnation at Christmas) of our own participation in God’s life. Jesus is received in God with his body: this Gospel affirmation, which is beyond our understanding, is not a speculation about the afterlife. It shows the infinite dignity of human beings—body, soul and spirit—in God’s eyes. With Jesus, our humanity is also welcomed by God. Our body itself will have a future; it is like a seed which dies to become a plant. (See 1 Corinthians 15:36-44)
When he left his disciples, Jesus told them: “You will be my witnesses to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). This is a request that he addresses to them, but also a promise that he makes to them. The love he has given them transforms them, changes their basic identity; the first Christians spoke of a new birth. Their lives were from then on bearers of a reality that was beyond them, a sign of God’s love. Now the words which Jesus had spoken earlier came true: “Whoever listens to you listens to me” (Luke 10:16)
As we celebrate Jesus’ return to God, it is as if he were telling us as well: you must now transmit my love to the ends of the earth; you will continue my work in the world; the strength of Holy Spirit will set you on your feet and give you the courage you need.
As disciples of Jesus, sometimes we must head towards new horizons, far or near, to communicate the hope of the Gospel. Jesus undertook his own mission with great simplicity and he had said to his disciples: Do not take anything with you (Luke 10:4); leave without baggage. With the same simplicity, we can go towards others without fear. So let us take courageous decisions to be witnesses who radiate the love of God!
“You will be my witnesses": these words of the Risen Christ include a call to conversion for us today. How can we, Christians, be witnesses to the Christ who “destroyed the wall of separation” (Ephesians 2, 14) if we remain divided among ourselves? It is only together that we can be credible witnesses. On Ascension Day, we pray that the hope of the Gospel may spread to all humankind. And we rely on the presence, now invisible, of the Risen Christ, as he promised in the last words of Matthew’s Gospel: “I am with you always, until the end of time” (Matthew 28:20).