Vatican
City, 17 April 2013
(VIS) – The meaning of the Ascension, the event culminating Jesus'
earthly life, was the central theme of Pope Francis' catechesis
during the Wednesday general audience, celebrated in St. Peter's
Square and attended by over 50,000 people.
“In
the Creed,” noted the pontiff, “we confess our faith in Christ
who 'ascended into heaven
and
is seated at the right hand of the Father'. … What does this mean
for our lives? While he 'ascends' to [Jerusalem], where his 'exodus'
from this life will take place, Jesus already sees the goal, Heaven,
but he knows well that the path that will take him back to the
Father's glory passes through the Cross, through obedience to the
divine plan of love for humanity. … We also must be clear, in our
Christian lives, that entering into God's glory demands daily
fidelity to his will, even when it requires sacrifice, when it
sometimes requires us to change our plans.”
The
Pope explained the Ascension in light of St. Luke's Gospel, which
gives a short version of it. “Jesus led his disciples 'as far as
Bethany, raised his hands, and blessed them. As he blessed them he
parted from them and was taken up to heaven'. .. This is the first
important point: Jesus is the only and eternal Priest who, by his
passion, has traversed death and the grave and is risen and ascended
into Heaven. He is with God the Father, where he always intercedes in
our favour. As St. John affirms in his First Letter: He is our
Advocate.”
He
then added: “How wonderful it is to hear this! When someone is
called in front of a judge or goes to court, the first he does is
look for a lawyer to defend him. We've got one who always defends us,
who defends us from the devil's snares, defends us from ourselves,
from our sins! Dear brothers and sisters, we have this Advocate. Let
us not be afraid to go to him and ask forgiveness, to ask for
blessing, to ask for mercy. He always forgives us. He is our
Advocate. He defends us always. Never forget this!”
“Jesus'
Ascension into Heaven thus allows us to know this reality that is so
consoling on our journey: in Christ, true God and true man, our
humanity has been brought to God. He has opened the way. He is like
the leader of a mountain climbing party that is roped together. He
has reached the summit and pulls us to himself, leading us to God. If
we entrust our lives to him, if we let ourselves be guided by him, we
are certain of being in safe hands.”
St.
Luke mentions that the Apostles, after seeing Jesus ascend into
Heaven, return to Jerusalem 'with great joy'. This seems a little
strange to us,” the Pope said. “Usually, when we are separated
from our family members, from our friends, definitively, and
especially when caused by death, we are naturally sad because … we
can no longer enjoy … their presence. Instead, the Evangelist
emphasizes the Apostles' profound joy. Why? Precisely because, with
the gaze of faith, they understand that, even if they gone from view,
Jesus remains always with them. He does not abandon them and, in the
Father's glory, He sustains them, guides them, and intercedes for
them.”
The
Evangelist also tells of the Ascension at the beginning of the Acts
of the Apostles “to underline that this event is like the link that
connects and unites Jesus' earthly life to that of the Church.” He
also mentions that, after a cloud takes him from sight of the
Apostles, they remain looking at the sky until two men dressed in
white garments invite them not to stay fixed there, looked at the
sky, but “to nourish their lives and witness with the certainty
that Jesus will return in the same way they saw him ascend to Heaven.
It is an invitation to step forth from the contemplation of Jesus'
Lordship and to receive from him the strength to carry forth and
witness to the Gospel in their everyday lives: to contemplate and to
act, 'ora et labora', St. Benedict teaches, are both necessary in our
Christian life.”
“The
Ascension,” Francis concluded, “doesn't indicate Jesus' absence,
but rather it tells us that He is living among us in a new way. He is
no longer in a particular place in the world as He was before the
Ascension. Now He is in the Lordship of God, present in every space
and time, close to each of us. In our lives we are never alone: we
have this Advocate who awaits us and defends us. We are never alone.
The crucified and risen Lord guides us. With us there are many
brothers and sisters who, in their family life and their work, in
their problems and difficulties, in their joys and hopes, daily live
the faith and bring, together with us, the Lordship of God's love to
the world. In Jesus Christ, risen and ascended into Heaven, we have
an Advocate.”
At
the end of his catechesis, the Pope greeted, among others, the
prelates of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales
and Polish pilgrims from the Shrine of St. Andrew Bobola—one of the
Patron Saints of Poland, a Jesuit and martyr—in Warsaw who had come
to Rome for the 75th anniversary of the saint's canonization. “He
gave his life for the faith, the reconciliation of his brothers, and
the unity of the Church. May his intercession before God bring the
gift of unity and peace to the Church,” the Holy Father exclaimed.
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