Photo: Magnific Photo User
By Esther Dutra, Fiat Ventures
Have you ever thought about what Jesus took with Him when He ascended into Heaven? It’s mind blowing!
The Feast of the Ascension is a powerful reminder that Jesus is fully God and fully human. And when He ascended to the Father, He did not leave His humanity behind. The risen Christ entered Heaven fully God and fully man.
What does that mean for us?
It means our humanity matters deeply to God.
So often, we can fall into thinking that holiness means escaping our humanity or distrusting our bodies. Even within Christian circles, the body is sometimes spoken about only as a source of temptation or weakness, at least I hear it more often than I would like to. But the Ascension reveals something entirely different: God considered human life worthy of entering into completely.
Saint John Paul II spoke beautifully about this in his Theology of the Body. He taught that our bodies are not meaningless or accidental, they reveal something about God and about our vocation to love. Our humanity is not a problem to solve, but a gift meant to lead us closer to Him!
Do we actually live that way? Do we see our bodies and daily lives as places where God can work?
The Ascension reminds us that holiness is not found by rejecting our humanity, but by allowing Christ to transform it. The way we love, serve, forgive, pray, manage suffering, and care for others all have eternal value. Because Jesus carried our human nature into Heaven, Heaven is no longer distant from humanity.
In a world that measures human worth by appearance, success, or productivity, the Ascension proclaims something greater: every person possesses sacred dignity because humanity has been united to God through Christ! Doesn’t that give you so much hope?
The Ascension is not only about where Jesus went. It is also about what He carried with Him. He carried our humanity into the heart of Heaven. “And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age” we heard in Sunday’s Gospel.
Maybe the question the Ascension leaves us with is this: If Jesus carried our humanity into Heaven… Are we living as people made for Heaven too? I encourage you to seriously consider how you’ve been living your life and if it’s not on the best path, confession is a gift for us! Jesus is waiting for us. Let’s be saints together and – hopefully – get to Heaven with Our Lord! May God Bless you and your families!