Ascension of the Lord

Today's feast, the Ascension of the Lord, is not the easiest feast for any of us to understand. Children usually wonder a lot about Jesus going up into the air, and they get pretty creative in their questions.

"Where did Jesus go? Was he like a rocket? Did he go straight up? Or did he veer off to one side, and go to some secret planet no one can see?" Well, this isn't far from our earliest human passion to point to the "Man in the Moon" and say, "I wonder what's out there? Is God in the stars somewhere?"

"To Infinity... And Beyond!!"

In 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope was launched out beyond earth's atmosphere. It orbits the earth and beams back pictures of the universe in unbelievable detail. It has transformed all of our prior knowledge including the age of the universe, now believed to be 13.5 billion years. Any astronomer in the world can request to observe the telescope, so Hubble has united the astronomy community and made diverse findings possible that could never have been predicted.

The Hubble Space Telescope is bringing us more knowledge not only of earth's reality, but of realities beyond earth. So, now we have to deal with how to think about this idea of life on other planets. And this reality is really staggering to human minds because it's going to push the edges of what we believe about God.

As St. Paul says today, God seated Jesus Christ "in the heavens, far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion, and every name..." This means, "Christ is Lord of the cosmos...In him human history and indeed all creation are 'set forth' and transcendently fulfilled" (Sec. 668, Catechism of the Catholic Church).

As our knowledge of that cosmos expands just like the universe itself is expanding, God can no longer be, in our minds, only God over the entire world. That's our limited thinking at work. But our God is the God of the entire cosmos, not just our church, our country, or our corner of the world. As everyone's favorite astronaut Buzz Lightyear might say, God's presence extends "To infinity--and beyond!!" (Toy Story)

Pulled in Two Directions

So we humans are pulled in two directions right from the start-being in this world, yet knowing that our Creator, and we, are not OF this world. This can become a problem! Life as we know it is not perfect, but when we somehow expect things to go smoothly and perfectly, we will be easily disappointed. Our human expectations always lead to trouble.

For example, in today's gospel some of the apostles "hesitated" to give themselves over to the worship of Jesus just before he ascended. "Some held back, not sure about worship, about risking themselves totally" (trans., The Message). Some still had doubts because naturally, they had never known a man who died and then came back to life! It is not so unnatural to doubt. But when it comes to faith in God, openness and willingness are the keys. We have to allow ourselves to be drawn into belief by letting the Spirit lead us to what is true.

God, the Ultimate Attractor

Remember the phrase, "Beam me up, Scotty?"-how the crew in Star Trek used a "tractor beam" to lock on and bring someone on board? Great effect, wasn't it? Well, our God is the ultimate Attracting Force. But instead of a tractor beam God does this entirely by radical love. As Jesus who gave his life for that love said, "When I am lifted up, I will draw all things to myself."

Sin is the tendency to fight against love. We've all done it and known others who have, too. It may come from feeling guilt or unworthiness down deep. We often feel we are not worth loving. To paraphrase Woody Allen, it is like saying, "I couldn't respect any club that would take me as a member." It is tragic when we end up resisting the very Love which created us! But God's love is the fiercest cosmic force in the universe. God's love for us is never going to end.

So, we can either fight this force of love which is coming to us through the Christ of the Creation, or we can let ourselves be drawn into unity with Jesus. Salvation is going to mean letting ourselves be open into God by the sheer force of God's love. That love is the ultimate "tractor beam" pulling us toward Oneness and life: in the Trinity.

Here is a good thought: "Since the Ascension, God's plan has entered into its fulfillment" (Sec. 670, Catechism of the Catholic Church). This is the "last hour" when "the renewal of the world is irrevocably under way..." In these last days, Jesus sends us out with urgency to "love one another as I have loved you." No matter what we learn about life on other planets, that command will not change for Christians. We still have to master loving our own species while we learn to love other species who share our world: the animals, the oceans full of unique lives, the redwood forests, and the whole family of majestic creations of God.

The Hubble is showing us that life is expanding and moving quickly. Very soon we may have to expand our circle of compassion to species we have never met. Does this create anxiety and fear in us? Not if we embrace Christ as the Lord of the entire Cosmos! "And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age."