A Homily for the Ascension of the Lord
Sunday, May 17, 2026
Acts 1:1-11; Psalm 47:2-3, 6-7, 8-9; Ephesians 1:17-23; Matthew 28:16-20
Audio Recording
The Feast of the Ascension can sometimes feel overshadowed by the great events that surround it. Christmas fills us with wonder at the birth of Christ. Good Friday confronts us with the Cross. Easter proclaims the victory of the Resurrection. Next week, Pentecost will celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit. But the Ascension can almost seem quiet by comparison, as though Jesus simply finished His work and returned to heaven. Yet the Church celebrates this feast as something far greater. The Ascension is not the end of Christ’s mission. It is the fulfillment of it. It is the moment when the risen Jesus enters fully into His glory and takes His place as Lord of heaven and earth.
In today’s first reading from Acts, the disciples are still thinking in earthly terms. They ask Jesus if He is now going to restore the kingdom to Israel. They are imagining an earthly triumph. But Jesus points them toward something far greater. His kingdom is not limited to one nation or one period of history. His reign extends over all creation and over every human heart.
That is why the Ascension is really the enthronement of Christ. When we profess in the Creed that Jesus is “seated at the right hand of the Father,” we are proclaiming that the crucified and risen Lord now reigns in glory. The humanity He took upon Himself in the womb of Mary now reigns in heavenly glory at the Father’s right hand. Jesus did not leave His humanity behind after the Resurrection. He carried our humanity into heaven itself. Jesus, true God and true man, reigns forever.
To understand this feast, we also need to understand what heaven truly is. Many people imagine heaven almost as a kind of personalized paradise. When someone who loved golf dies, people sometimes say, “Well, he’s playing great golf courses all day long now.” But heaven is not simply each person’s wish fulfillment. Heaven is where God’s will is perfectly done. It is where everything is finally as God created it to be. It is where sin and death no longer have power. Heaven is so much more than we can ever begin to imagine!
Scripture gives us images to help us glimpse this reality. It speaks of the lion lying down with the lamb, of tears being wiped away, of sickness and death being no more, and of an eternal banquet overflowing with joy. These are glimpses of a reality beyond our imagination. Most importantly, heaven is the fullness of God’s presence. God is known, loved, worshiped, adored, and glorified perfectly. That is why no earthly thing can ever fully satisfy the human heart. We were made for communion with God Himself.
And here we discover something astonishing about ourselves. The Ascension reveals the destiny of humanity. Human nature itself has been lifted up in Christ. In Jesus, humanity now sits at the right hand of the Father. The glorified body of Christ is the promise of what God desires for each of us. We were created not merely for this passing world, but for eternal communion with God.
Saint Paul speaks about this in today’s second reading when he prays that the eyes of our hearts may be enlightened so that we may know the hope that belongs to our call. Through baptism, we are united so deeply to Jesus that His death becomes our death, His Resurrection becomes our Resurrection, and His Ascension becomes the beginning of our heavenly life even now.
That is why the Church constantly calls us to “lift up your hearts.” At every Mass we hear those words, and we respond, “We lift them up to the Lord.” In every Eucharist, heaven and earth are united through the risen and ascended Christ. Even while we still live in this world, our lives are already hidden with Christ in God.
But the Ascension is not an invitation to stand still gazing toward heaven. The angels tell the apostles that it is time to move forward. The mission of the Church is only beginning. Jesus promises that they will receive power from the Holy Spirit and become His witnesses to the ends of the earth.
This feast becomes deeply practical for us. Christ reigns now, but He chooses to continue His work through His people. Every act of charity, every moment of forgiveness, every hidden sacrifice made out of love becomes part of Christ’s kingdom at work in the world.
The Ascension also gives us confidence in difficult times. When we look at the world, we see confusion, division, violence, and suffering. It may not always appear that Christ is Lord of history. But today’s feast reminds us that He truly reigns. His victory over sin and death has already been won, even if it has not yet been fully revealed. We do not know when Christ will return in glory to bring history to its fulfillment, but as Christians we are called to live with watchful hearts, as though that day could come at any moment.
So today we do not celebrate Jesus leaving. We celebrate Jesus reigning. We celebrate the exaltation of human nature in Him. And we celebrate the promise that where Christ has gone, we are called to follow. Until that day comes, may we live as His faithful witnesses, with our hearts already fixed on the kingdom where Christ now reigns in glory.
God bless you.