"Today we have not only been constituted possessors of paradise," says St. Leo the Great on this solemnity, "but with Christ we have ascended, mystically but truly, to the highest of Heaven, and obtained through Christ a more ineffable grace than that which we had lost ".
The Ascension strengthens and encourages our hope of reaching Heaven and constantly urges us to lift up our hearts, as the preface of the Mass invites us to do, in order to seek the things that are above. Now our hope is very great, for Christ himself has gone to prepare a dwelling place for us.
The Lord is in Heaven with his glorified Body, with the sign of his redemptive Sacrifice , with the traces of the Passion that Thomas was able to contemplate, which cry out for the salvation of us all. The Most Holy Humanity of the Lord already has its natural place in Heaven, but He, who gave his life for each one of us, awaits us there. "Christ awaits us. We already live as citizens of heaven (Phil 3:20), being fully citizens of the earth, in the midst of difficulties, injustices and misunderstandings, but also in the midst of the joy and serenity that comes from knowing that we are God's beloved children (...).
"If, in spite of everything, the ascent of Jesus to heaven leaves a bitter aftertaste of sadness in our souls, let us go to his Mother, as the apostles did: then they returned to Jerusalem... and prayed with one accord... with Mary, the Mother of Jesus (Acts 1:12-14) ".
The hope of Heaven will fill our daily journey with joy. We will imitate the Apostles, who "profited so much from the Ascension of the Lord that everything which before caused them fear, afterwards became joy. From that moment they raised all the contemplation of their souls to the divinity seated at the right hand of the Father; the very vision of his body was not an obstacle for the intelligence, enlightened by faith, to believe that Christ, neither by descending had separated himself from the Father, nor by his Ascension had he separated himself from his disciples ".