Arrival and Departure: Ascension of Jesus Christ

Listen to the homily here.

Notes:

One of my favorite movies was simply titled “Arrival”

·      Yes, I enjoy movies with suspense, depth, corruption, and in this movie some sci-fi

·      Around the globe, spacecrafts landed in the air  

·      The actor (Jeremy Renner) and actress (Amy Adams) were decided to learn how to communicate with these aliens to learn what their true purpose was: connection with us humans

·      Now, some cool events took place

o   In their spacecraft gravity was changed…their “world” was flipped as they could walk with gravity perpendicular to our world and they could be connected with these aliens between a glass wall, as they live in a different dimension

o   And, at the end of the movie, their spacecrafts simply disappeared, not by flying away, but somehow absorbed into a different place

o   Arrival and departure: Jesus conception on earth and his Ascension into heaven

Now why do I speak about this movie?  Well, it’s the Ascension of our Lord

·      When I was studying in the theology, our professor spoke about Jesus’ Ascension with some great questions: How did Jesus, as a person, go to the clouds?  Was he wearing a rocket booster?

·      How did Jesus Christ Ascend into heaven?

Well, let’s listen again to how the disciples experienced in the Gospel according to Luke and his second document, Acts of the Apostles

·      “Then he led them out as far as Bethany,
raised his hands, and blessed them.
As he blessed them he parted from them
and was taken up to heaven.”

·       “When he had said this, as they were looking on,he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight.  While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going,
suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them.They said, "Men of Galilee,why are you standing there looking at the sky?This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven
will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven."”

Here is the point I would like to make today:

·      We believe in the Ascension of Jesus Christ as he went back to where he came from: Heaven

·      The author noticed that the disciples kept “looking up”

o   Well, what is this “up” mean?  I mean, the moon is probably below us now, the sun is not just up at this point in the day

o   Personally, I think that he is in a totally different world, that we cannot physically see it…and how did Jesus “disappear” like the narratives in which he was able to enter a locked room, or was gone on in the Emmaus with bread

Finally, Jesus Christ who went back to heaven was ready to send the Holy Spirit

·      Jesus did so to rise up (or in) heaven to support his disciples to send the Holy Spirit

“John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit."

·      Buckle up for Pentecost next weekend!