The Feast of the Ascension emphasises that the Risen Jesus is with the Father, and shares the place and dignity of the Father, by the spilling of his own blood, on the Cross. After his Ascension, the disciples have a new lesson to learn the Jesus they knew had left them. They have to return to Jerusalem, and there, through the outpouring of the Spirit of the Father and Jesus, they will begin to understand that if they want to find Jesus, they will find him in the Christian community, in those they mix with every day of their lives.
Today we gather to remind ourselves that when Jesus left us, and returned to his Father, he gave us a very important mission. That mission was, and is, to continue his loving and redemptive presence in the world. When people see us, do they see Jesus? Do they want to know Jesus? Do they want to join our community, share our life, and take the Gospel as the foundation of their lives? That is the meaning of the Ascension. Let us ask God, today, to keep us, together with him, to carry out that huge responsibility in the way he wants.