Presence, Not Absence
Today's Readings:
[ Acts 1:1-11; Ps 47; Eph 1:15-23; Lk 24:44-53 ]
The Feast of the Ascension of the Lord invites us into a mystery that can seem, at first glance, like absence. Jesus is taken up into heaven, disappearing from the sight of the disciples. Yet the readings today insist that Ascension is not about Christ leaving the world behind—it is about his presence filling it in a new way.
In Acts, the disciples stand “gazing up toward heaven” after Jesus ascends. The angels gently redirect them: “Why do you stand looking up toward heaven?”. It is a subtle but profound correction. Faith is not meant to trap us in staring upward, waiting passively for rescue. Christ ascends not to distance himself from creation, but to reign over it and send his followers into it.
This resonates deeply with a Franciscan vision of faith. St. Francis of Assisi delighted in the nearness of God within creation. The risen Christ who ascends is not abandoning the earth; rather, all creation is gathered into him. As Ephesians proclaims, God has placed Christ “far above all rule and authority” and made him “head over all things”. The world remains charged with divine purpose because Christ reigns over all things.
Psalm 47 rejoices, “God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet”. Through a Christian lens, this is not triumphalism in the worldly sense. The one who reigns is still the crucified and risen Lord, whose kingship is marked by mercy and self-giving love. The Ascension reminds us that heaven is not far away. In Christ, heaven and earth are already joined.
The disciples in Luke respond to the Ascension not with despair, but with joy, returning to Jerusalem “continually in the temple blessing God”. Perhaps that is our invitation today: not to mourn Christ’s seeming distance, but to recognize his living presence in prayer, in neighbour, and in the goodness of creation itself.
Christ has ascended—but he has not gone away. He reigns, and he remains.
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