In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit!
Every parting, every separation, is a sorrowful event. And the more deeply we love the one from whom we are parted, the greater the grief at the moment of separation. In this light, the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord, from a purely human perspective, ought not to be a celebration, but a day of sorrow.
Yet what do we see? Quite the opposite. Moreover, in the hymns and liturgical texts dedicated to the Feast of the Ascension, there is only a single mention that the disciples wept when they saw Christ ascending—but numerous times it is said that the Ascension filled them with joy, with gladness, with rejoicing.
How can this be?
This, it would seem, is entirely contrary to human logic. Yet I believe many of us have encountered something similar in our own lives. I speak of those moments when the Lord has granted us to be present at the burial of elders, of righteous men, of those whose lives were pleasing to God. Those who have experienced such occasions know that although a burial is, outwardly, a sorrowful event, it often feels more like a feast.
After the burial of one saintly person, a witness returning from the service remarked, “I could not quite tell where I had been—at a funeral, or at the uncovering of relics.” And so it is in truth. This allows us, in a small way, to experience what the disciples of Christ felt at the moment of the Ascension. It shows us just how deeply Christianity transforms the order of human life—Christianity grants man a new kind of life. Earthly separation, earthly parting, means almost nothing if there is spiritual communion between us and the one from whom we part.
So it was with the disciples of Christ. And that is precisely why His Ascension was for them a cause not of sorrow, but of joy. For although they had not yet received the fullness of the Holy Ghost, whom they would receive on the day of Pentecost, they were already convinced of the truth of Christ’s words:
Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world (Matt. 28:20).
His Ascension filled the disciples not with grief, but with joy. And, of course, this is a call to all of us to feel Christ near us, regardless of whether we see Him physically or not. But this is very difficult for us, and it is precisely this difficulty that at times becomes the cause of our doubts and our lack of faith—because we do not sense Christ in our lives as vividly as we would wish.
And at times even those who are deeply and firmly believing may experience thoughts such as: “If only Christ would appear here—if only I could see Him right now—then, of course, it would be much easier for me to believe.” But the Lord does not act in this way, because that would no longer be faith, but knowledge. And where then would be the struggle, the spiritual labor on our part?
This labor of faith is necessary for us. And in order to attain the same confidence in the nearness of Christ that the disciples had, the most important thing we need is—to constantly remember God.
One saint said that the remembrance of God—unceasing recollection of Him—is the very indwelling of God within us. When we remember at all times that the Lord is near, then we shall truly be near to Him, for the Lord is omnipresent, and it depends only on us whether we are close to Him or far. And this, of course, is precisely what the Feast of the Ascension calls us to.
The Lord ascended into Heaven, yet He is with us always, even unto the end of the world. God grant that we may remember this more and more often. God grant that we may train ourselves—perhaps not yet constantly, for that requires growth—but as frequently as possible, to recall: “The Lord is here. He is near. He is beside me. He is looking upon me now.” And this remembrance—if we summon ourselves to it, even compel ourselves to it—will help us to see God near us. And the Lord will manifest His wonders, which we so often overlook out of inattention. But if we remember God, then we shall see.
May God grant that it be so. And through the prayers of the holy apostles, may the Ascended Lord always remain close to us—that we too may always remain close to Him, that we may behold Him in every moment of our lives. For this very awareness of the omnipresence of God, this constant placing of ourselves in the presence of God, grants a person—even here on earth—a foretaste of the knowledge of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Amen.
