The Ascension of Our Lord

To All the People of the Ascension of Our Lord of the Epiphany 

Ascension: Fulfillment, Mission, and Hope 

(The Seventh Sunday of Easter: The Ascension of Our Lord, Luke 24:46-53, 01 June 2025) 

On the Seventh Sunday of Easter, the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord is being celebrated. This Solemnity embraces two elements. On the one hand it directs our gaze toward heaven, where the glorified Jesus is seated at the right hand of God (See Luke 24:46-53). On the other, it reminds us of the mission of the Church: why? Because Jesus, Risen and Ascended into heaven, sends his disciples to spread the Gospel throughout the world. Therefore, the Ascension exhorts us to lift our gaze toward heaven, in order to return it immediately to the earth, to implement the tasks that the Risen Lord entrusts to us. (Pope Francis, Angelus, 2018) 

Dear Brothers and Sisters of the Epiphany 

There once was a brilliant teacher who came to a struggling school. The students were lost, fighting, and barely learning. She moved into their neighborhood, sat with them, spoke their language, and slowly transformed their lives. She taught with power, love, and grace—so much so that her students grew not just in knowledge, but in character. 

But after some time, she said, “I must go now. But I am not leaving you alone. I am sending someone to help you remember everything I taught. And one day, I will come back.” 

She walked out of the school, and everyone watched as she left—not in sorrow, but in awe. Because she did not just leave; she ascended to a higher position—to a role where she could influence the whole school system and send help to every classroom. 

In the same way, Jesus ascended not to abandon us, but to take His seat of power, send the Holy Spirit, and prepare the world for His return. 

Dear Friends, the passage we hear today from the conclusion of Luke’s Gospel is deceptively brief, yet it encapsulates one of the most profound theological events in the economy of salvation: the Ascension of the Lord. Luke presents this event not as an isolated departure but as the climax of Jesus’ earthly ministry and the bridge to the mission of the Church. Let us examine this passage through three theological lenses: Christological fulfillment, ecclesial mission, and liturgical eschatology. 

Christological Fulfillment: The Scriptures Realized in the Paschal Mystery 

In Luke 24:46, Jesus declares: “Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day.” Here we encounter Luke’s consistent emphasis on Scriptural fulfillment. Jesus’ passion, resurrection, and ascension are not accidental or reactive moments — they are the telos of divine providence. The phrase “thus it is written” signals that all these events are part of a divine schema, echoing the Lukan motif of the necessity (dei) of the Messiah’s suffering and glorification (See Luke 24:26). 

The Ascension, therefore, is not merely the cessation of Jesus’ physical presence; it is the enthronement of the Risen Lord. As St. Paul articulates in Ephesians, He is exalted “far above all rule and authority,” fulfilling Daniel’s vision of the Son of Man receiving dominion (Daniel 7:13–14). Luke, by narrating the Ascension at the end of his Gospel and again at the beginning of Acts, frames it as both culmination and inauguration: the end of the earthly ministry and the beginning of the Church’s mission. 

Ecclesial Mission: Witnesses of the Word and Resurrection 

Jesus continues: “You are witnesses of these things.” In Luke’s Gospel, the role of the disciple is not passive reception but active witness. The term “witness” (martyres) carries both a legal connotation and a sacrificial one. The disciples are to testify to the death and resurrection of Christ, and to preach repentance and forgiveness of sins to all nations — a continuation of Jesus’ own mission (See Luke 4:18-19). 

What is striking is that this mission begins “from Jerusalem,” emphasizing the historical and theological rootedness of the Church’s proclamation. The universal mission of the Church emerges not in abstraction but from the concrete experience of the Risen Lord within the historical people of Israel. 

Moreover, the promise of being “clothed with power from on high” anticipates the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The Ascension and Pentecost are therefore inseparably linked: the Ascended Lord bestows the Spirit so that the Church may extend His presence in time and space. 

Liturgical Eschatology: The Church Between Heaven and Earth 

The final verses are filled with liturgical overtones: “He led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands, he blessed them.” Jesus assumes the priestly role, blessing His people as He departs — reminiscent of Aaron’s blessing and the priestly function in the Temple. The disciples’ response — worship, joy, and continual presence in the Temple — suggests that the Ascension reorients their worship not toward loss but toward hope. 

Here we encounter the already and not yet of Christian eschatology. Christ is enthroned in heaven, and yet we await His return. The Church, therefore, lives liturgically in this “in-between” time — celebrating the Eucharist, preaching the Gospel, and forming the Body of Christ on earth while longing for the consummation of all things in Him. 

As Romano Guardini observed, the Ascension marks the moment when Christ’s presence is no longer constrained by place or time, but becomes sacramentally universal — present wherever the Church gathers in His name. 

In this brief Lukan passage, we are given a theological panorama: the fulfillment of divine promises in Christ, the launching of the Church’s mission in history, and the anticipation of the eschaton. The Ascension, far from being a farewell, is a turning point in salvation history — from the physical to the sacramental, from the particular to the universal, from the earthly ministry of Christ to the Spirit-filled witness of the Church. 

Let us, then, live as people caught up in this great mystery — our eyes on the heavens, our feet planted in the Gospel, and our hearts burning with the promise of His return. 

Living the Ascension 

Dear Epiphany, today, we are called to: Trust the plan of God — even when we do not see the whole picture. Be witnesses — not only with our words, but with our lives. Live under His blessing — walking with joy and hope, knowing Christ reigns. Let us lift up our hearts. Let us turn our eyes toward heaven, not in longing, but in confidence, knowing that where Christ has gone, we hope to follow. May His blessing remain with us always: 

Christ Ascends: The Church Begins 
From Glory to Mission: The Meaning of the Ascension 
Heaven Opened: The Gospel Unleashed 
Witnesses of the Risen and Ascended Lord 

Fraternally 
Fr. John Peter Lazaar SAC, Pastor