Resurrection of the Lord

HIS ASCENSION INTO HEAVEN
By St Leo the Great 1
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The sacred work of our salvation was of such great value in the sight of
the Creator of the universe that he counted it worth the shedding of his own
blood. From the day of his birth until his passion and death this work was
carried out in conditions of self-abasement; and although he showed many
signs of his divinity even when he bore the form of a slave, yet strictly speaking,
the events of that time were concerned with proving the reality of the humanity
he had assumed. But he was innocent of any sin, and so when death launched
its attack upon him he burst its bonds and robbed it of its power. After his
passion weakness was turned into strength, mortality into eternal life, and
disgrace into glory. Of all this Lord Jesus Christ gave ample proof in the sight of
many, until at last he entered heaven in triumph. bearing with him the trophy
of his victory over death.

And so while at Easter it was the Lord’s resurrection which was the cause
of our joy, our present rejoicing is on account of his ascension into heaven. With
all due solemnity we are commemorating that day on which our poor human
nature was carried up in Christ above all the hosts of heaven, above all the ranks
of angels, beyond the highest heavenly powers to the very throne of God the
Father. It is upon this ordered structure of divine acts that we have been firmly
established, so that the grace of God may show itself still more marvelous when,
in spite of the withdrawal from our sight of everything that is rightly felt to
command our reverence, faith does not fail, hope is not shaken, charity does not
grow cold.

For such is the power of great minds, such is the light of truly believing
souls, that they put unhesitating faith in what is not seen with the bodily eye;
they fix their desires on what is beyond sight. Such fidelity could never be borne
in our hearts, nor could anyone be justified by faith if our salvation lay only in
what is visible. That is why Christ said to the man who seemed doubtful about
his resurrection unless he could see and touch the marks of his passion in his
very flesh: you believe because you see me; blessed are those who have not seen
and yet believe.

It was in order that we might be capable of such blessedness that on the
fortieth day after his resurrection, after he had made careful provision for
everything concerning the preaching of the gospel and the mysteries of the new
covenant, our Lord Jesus Christ was taken up to heaven before the eyes of his
disciples, and so his bodily presence among them came to an end. From that
time onward he was to remain at the Father’s right hand until the completion
of the period ordained by God for the Church’s children to increase and
multiply, after which, in the same body with which he ascended, he will come
again to judge the living and the dead.

And so our Redeemer’s visible presence has passed into the sacraments.
Our faith is nobler and stronger because sight has been replaced by a doctrine
whose authority is accepted by believing hearts, enlightened from on high.

1
Journey with the Fathers – Year B – New City Press – 1999 = pg 60.