Page 170 - spiritual_accompaniment_montreal_archdiocese

HOMILIES

By his ascension into heaven, Jesus carries our humanity into heaven. In a mysterious way,
our humanity, our human nature, finds itself within the life of God himself, within the eternal
life of the Trinity.

From the incarnation of Christ to the paschal mystery of his death and resurrection until his
ascension into heaven, all that Jesus Christ did, he did through his humanity, which is also
our humanity that he had fully assumed! Before the incarnation, all that Jesus did he did as a
divine person. After the Ascension, he acts as a divine person who has assumed our humanity.
For this reason, our humanity is now at the heart of the life of God.

In this sense, to contemplate Jesus Christ is to contemplate just how far his love goes. It is to
contemplate his love that wants to be so close to us that he has taken on our human nature.
Maybe one could now say: “Yes, he took on our human nature, but after the Ascension, he is
now far from us in heaven!”

But to the contrary, be assured that he is closer to us now than had he not ascended into
heaven! Had there been no ascension, we would think that in order to see Jesus Christ, we
would have to go somewhere on Earth. Maybe we needed to go to Jerusalem or somewhere
else! We would have to go to a specific place to meet him.

But in disappearing before our eyes on the day of the Ascension, he tells us that we can meet
him wherever we are. There is nowhere you cannot meet him. We can be in the deepest valley,
literally or metaphorically. We can be in despair, experiencing darkness, the unknown, be in
anguish. Yet, Jesus Christ is close to us, always by our side.

By his ascension, he makes himself close to every human being. No, God is not far away. We
can distance ourselves from God for all kinds of reasons, but he never leaves us. We can walk
away from the love of Jesus Christ, but he never walks away, and he never ceases to love us.
Jesus is always by our side, always present.

To contemplate Jesus Christ in the mystery of the Ascension is to contemplate his presence
in our heart and in our life. It is to contemplate Jesus Christ who knocks at the door of our
heart to dwell in our soul, our spirit, our flesh.

At the same time, to contemplate Jesus Christ in the mystery of the Ascension is to contem-
plate this light that is always given to us. We may be in a dark valley, and with no light what-
soever, but in the distance, we see a light beckoning on the horizon, high above the moun-
tains, showing us in which direction to walk.

(cont’d)

Collection of texts by the Most Rev. Christian Lépine 170