The Ascension Reveals Man’s Calling to Eternal, Divine Life, by Carl E. Olson 

Readings:
• Acts 1:1-11
• Psa. 47:2-3, 6-7, 8-9
• Eph. 1:17-23 or Heb. 9:24-28; 10:19-23
• Lk 24:46-53

“He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.”

The inclusion of this statement as one of the twelve articles in the Apostles’ Creed, that early and succinct statement or “symbol” of faith, suggests the great importance of the Ascension. And the Solemnity of the Ascension is one of six great solemnities Catholics are obligated to observe. Yet specific reasons for its significance can be difficult to articulate. After all, we believe Jesus is God, so why be surprised that he would ascend into heaven? His work was “finished,” so doesn’t it make sense he would exit the earthly stage soon after the Resurrection?

When speaking to the Pharisee, Nicodemus, Jesus said, “No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man” (Jn. 3:13). The Ascension is closely related to the reality of the Incarnation; it is, in fact, an essential act of the Incarnate One. “This final stage”—that is, the exaltation revealed in the Ascension—“stays closely linked to the first,” states the Catechism, “to his descent from heaven in the Incarnation” (par. 661). …

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