FEAST OF THE ASCENSION
‘He was taken up into heaven’
As Jesus ascended into heaven, He blessed His
friends and they let Him go. Life is like that.
As we move from one stage of the journey
to the next we must bless what has been and
let it go in order to embrace fruitfully what
has yet to be. We must not allow ourselves to
become prisoners of the past with all its’ hurts
and wounds. The past can blind and bind us.
Holding on is believing that there is only a
past; letting go is knowing there is a future. It
was towards that future that Jesus directed His
friends as He took their leave. While giving
them a glimpse of the world beyond, He
directed them to continue His work in this
world. This message is presented powerfully
in a striking picture of the Ascension in
the College Chapel of St. Patrick’s College,
Maynooth. Here, as Jesus ascends, we notice
that Mary is not looking towards Him, but
rather outwards towards us. In other words,
we are to find Him now in the lives of the
people around us and help them to encounter
Him. That is our mission and the reward for
our efforts will be, literally, out of this world.
The Feast of the Ascension, then, teaches us
much about going forward, going out, going
home and letting go.