Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord Luke 24,46-53

The Christian is to be a witness to heaven (Luke 24:46-53)
The joy of faith manifests itself in different ways and is also an original witness of heaven.

Do you also watch the entertaining program “Even the Wise Shrink” on television? How about choosing the answers? We aren’t usually the ones that handle that. Now let us ask ourselves: How would we answer if we had something to say about heaven? Wouldn’t that provoke laughter? Surely. But also severe thought. Indeed, pointing their finger to the sky, those would say heaven is there. But a well-mannered child will tell his little heart that heaven is there. Some would say they would like to go to heaven, but not yet today. Others, especially those suffering and living in friendship with God, desire to get to heaven as soon as possible. For others, heaven is a fairy tale, and still, others fulfill their duties responsibly and faithfully and expect to be rewarded by God in heaven. Some leave heaven to the birds and the stars. Still others, at the sight of a starry sky or the presence of a skylark aloft, experience at the same time the nearness of heaven and its joy. There are certainly those who philosophize about heaven, where all things will be abundant, and do not realize the words about heaven: “…eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him” (1 Cor. 2:9). Some are already looking forward to heaven on earth, which awaits them after death; others prefer heaven on earth and do not care what happens after death. During their lifetime, they have not remembered God, and when old age and sickness come, and the end of life approaches, they change their mindset, attitude, and opinion. This is an even better case. But what about the one who curses God at the hour of death? What kind of life, what kind of death? God is a righteous Judge.

At His ascension, Jesus said: “You are witnesses of this” (Lk 24:48).

According to St. Luke, today’s Gospel passage is from the end of the Gospel, who is also the author of the Book of Acts. St. Luke tells the story of the ascension of the Lord Jesus. Jesus led the disciples out of Jerusalem and into Bethany. There he said goodbye to the apostles. He raised his hands and blessed them. “As he blessed them, he withdrew from them and ascended into heaven” (Lk 24:50-51). “He was lifted before their eyes, and a cloud took him from before them” (Acts 1:9). It is a different departure of Jesus from the apostles that they had become accustomed to after Jesus’ resurrection when Jesus came and went. Jesus was preparing the apostles for this departure. After the resurrection, the apostles received new commands and commissions that they would not have understood before Jesus’ death. Even before their final release to the Father, there is much they still do not understand. The Holy Spirit, whom the Father promised to send, has not yet descended upon them. But even then, Jesus took care of the apostles as they looked heavenward. “Two men in white stood by them and said: “Men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up into heaven, will come just as you saw him go into heaven” (Acts 1:10-11). The apostles respond to these words with their lives. “With great joy, they returned to Jerusalem. They were still in the temple, glorifying God” (Lk 24:53).

As he put it, Jesus’ ascension had to be preceded, “… that the Messiah would suffer and on the third day rise from the dead” (Lk 24:46). This is so that every person who encounters the teachings of Christ will realize the importance of Christ’s death to salvation. The spread of the teachings of the Lord Jesus is to be taken care of by everyone who believes in the mission of Christ. The ever-present meaning of Christ’s words is, “Ye are witnesses of this” (Lk 24:48). The apostles fulfilled their mission as witnesses. But the crowning witness is God Himself, His Holy Spirit, who uses the human word to endow them with God’s graces and gifts. The apostles will return to Jerusalem with joy. They have believed the words of Christ. Jesus had spoken many times of his Kingdom. After sending the Holy Spirit, the Apostles understood what they had been competing for wrongly among themselves when they longed to take their places at Jesus’ right and left in His Kingdom.

What is heaven? We encounter misconceptions that in heaven, we will only pray. Heaven is only for the elect. Mostly with irony and mockery, heaven, God, saints, and angels are presented. We know that heaven is not just our folded hands, downcast eyes, serious to sad faces, boredom… What is the heaven Jesus is talking about really like? He speaks of heaven in union with the Father, who is love. The Father has prepared for those who persevere in goodness a dwelling place of love, and happiness, which the tongue, reason, and heart of man cannot and does not imagine. Let us think about how to explain to the blind the colors, the deaf the sound of a child’s laughter, the song of a lark, or the voice of a confession of love?
Whoever would give a detailed description of heaven would resemble what Herakles speaks. Do you know what he did? He wanted to sell his magnificent palace, so he took one stone from it and called out to the people: “Do you want to buy my palace? This is his painting!” And he showed them just one precious, precious stone from the palace.
Jesus left us several symbols, comparisons, and images. For example, the parable of the wedding of the king’s son. What does a wedding evoke in our hearts and minds? Likewise, the description of the heavenly Jerusalem in St. John the Apostle’s account permeates us with the beautiful thought of an eternity close to God. How much beauty we have seen on earth and in heaven we will see God face to face (cf. Rev 22:4). Elsewhere we are reminded, “… we shall see Him as He is…” (1 Jn 3:2). Jesus himself says: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Mt 5:8). How to understand seeing God? In Scripture, it means not only intellectual knowledge, contemplative, which can be realized in natural life, it means living in the presence of someone. The commoner very rarely saw his sovereign, and it was from a distance if he did. Only those closest to him, those who dined with him, saw him indeed. Seeing God is understood not only as intellectual knowledge but as an eternal and endlessly lasting presence with God. To be in constant, more than natural, personal contact with God, the angels, and the saints. In heaven, he will not marry or be given in marriage (cf. Matt. 22:30).

We also understand the happiness of heaven as the joy of the beautiful works of God, of the victory of truth and love in our lives and the lives of others. Heaven is the reward and crown of life and, therefore, the fruit of life on earth when one has earned it in one’s lifetime. Heaven is the joy of victory over sin. This means there will also be degrees of glory and joy in heaven. Everyone will receive a just reward according to merit, and no one will envy anyone. Everyone will encompass the happiness appropriate to him. Heaven is a world of love. And we enter this world already here on earth, today, by our life, by our relationship to how we love God, our neighbor, and ourselves. Heaven begins today. We have already decided on heaven today. How do we cooperate with the graces, the gifts that God gives us? God, our reward, our goal, blesses us today, and our response to his talents becomes our ticket.
Today, on the Solemnity of the Ascension, we realize that our goal is not our earth. Life on earth is but a stage, at the end of which the Father’s house awaits us. Heaven is truly our homeland. God himself invites us. There is God, our true happiness and reward. Life on earth must come to an end one day. For the world is also God’s creation, and God is eternal. And in the same way, we need to remember that we are the engineers of our eternity, happiness, and rejection.
The older woman is dying. She prays the entire holy rosary daily. The priest asks her which tithe she likes to pray best. “Which one entered heaven, and: which one took you, Virgin, to heaven.” “Why?” “‘Cause I look forward in advance, when I glorify them here on earth, they will allow me to continue doing so in heavenly glory. I trust that I will see it through and experience it with them in heavenly glory.”
Imagine you are standing at the crib of a small child. What do you say to his little face? In the eyes of such children, it is said that you can see heaven. And can you imagine such a child dying? I know a woman who has had several such innocent children die. She can say that it was great pain in her heart then. But today, she invokes them daily and asks for help for her now-grown children, her husband, and herself.

May the thought of Christ going to the Father stir in us an even greater desire and effort to work in this life for eternal life. When we can approach the values of this world correctly, the more we want to come to eternal values responsibly and honestly.

We are not here for the entertainment of the foolish. We may have also made mistakes in our life so far, but we would like to make things right. God is. That is why we are already on earth to live as if we were in the antechamber of heaven. To be friends of God. To love the truth, live in love, and stand on the side of righteousness.