The Ascension

May 17th, 2010 Posted in writing

As seminarians, my Jesuit buddies and I figured that the perfect entrance song for the feast of the Ascension would be the then-popular song “Up, Up, and Away.”

However, the feast is not really about Jesus going up, up, and away. It’s about Jesus’ taking his place at the right hand of the Father. So, if one wanted to select appropriate music for the Ascension, the Hallelujah Chorus would fit nicely.

The feast of the Ascension is about us, too, for Jesus didn’t leave his human nature behind when he ascended. He remains fully human: our humanity is his and his humanity is ours.

So, all the children of Adam and Eve — we who are the brothers and sisters of the ascended Jesus — now have a place waiting for us where Jesus is, and Heaven is no longer a place from which we are excluded.

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