|  | 1) Your Holiness, what is a good starting point for understanding the Ascension? |
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| | when Jesus decided to make his last pilgrimage to Jerusalem. |
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| | While he was “going up” to the Holy City, where his own “exodus” from this life was to occur, Jesus already saw the destination, heaven, but he knew well that the way which would lead him to the glory of the Father passed through the Cross, through obedience to the divine design of love for mankind. |
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| | The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that: “The lifting up of Jesus on the cross signifies and announces his lifting up by his Ascension into heaven” |
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| | 2) What can we learn from this? |
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| | entering the glory of God demands daily fidelity to his will |
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| | Ascension of Jesus actually happened on the Mount of Olives |
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| | Once again we see that prayer gives us the grace to be faithful to God’s plan. |
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| | 3) How does Luke's Gospel describe the Ascension? |
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| | Jesus led his disciples “out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them, and was carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God” |
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| | 4) What is the first point? |
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| | during the Ascension Jesus made the priestly gesture of blessing, and the disciples certainly expressed their faith with prostration, they knelt with bowed heads. |
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| | Jesus is the one eternal High Priest who with his Passion passed through death and the tomb and ascended into heaven. |
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| | St. John says in his First Letter, he is our Advocate |
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| | We have One who always defends us, who defends us from the snares of devil, who defends us from ourselves and from our sins! |
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| | Ascension of Jesus into heaven acquaints us with this deeply consoling reality on our journey: In Christ, true God and true man, our humanity was taken to God. |
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| | 5) What is the second point? |
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| | the Apostles returned to Jerusalem “with great joy.” |
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| | Precisely because, with the gaze of faith they understand that although he has been removed from their sight, Jesus stays with them for ever |
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| | 6) How does Luke's other book--the book of Acts--record the Ascension? |
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| | like the link of the chain that connects Jesus’ earthly life to the life of the Church. |
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| | the invitation to base our contemplation on Christ’s lordship, to find in him the strength to spread the Gospel and to witness to it in everyday life |
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| | contemplation and action, ora et labora [Latin, "pray and work"], as St Benedict taught, are both necessary in our life as Christians. |
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| | 7) What does the Ascension imply about Jesus' presence with us? |
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| | Ascension does not point to Jesus’ absence, but tells us that he is alive in our midst in a new way. |
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| | He is no longer in a specific place in the world as he was before the Ascension. |
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| | He is now in the lordship of God, present in every space and time, close to each one of us. |
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| | We are never alone: The Crucified and Risen Lord guides us. |
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