Where He Has Gone, We Must Follow

Christ’s Ascension is not just His triumph—it is our calling.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus told us that it was for our benefit that He goes, so that He might send us the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, to help us (cf. John 16:7). As we reflect on His Blessed Ascension, we begin to see the fruit of that promise.

Christ has cleared the path for us. He has given us a perfect example to follow, and through His Ascension, He reveals our ultimate goal: union with God. As Saint Paul writes, “He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavens” (Ephesians 1:20). Each one of us is destined to appear before the Lord. We are made for communion with Him.

Christ ascends by His own divine power, unlike Mary or Elijah, who were assumed into heaven. We cannot ascend on our own. And that is precisely why He ascended, so that He might send us the Holy Spirit. “Where I am going, you cannot come” (John 8:21), He once told His disciples. It is not within our natural power to enter the Father’s house.

But grace builds upon nature. Through the Spirit, we are transformed, lifted, purified, and empowered. His blood has opened the way for us, “securing eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:12), washing us clean like pure water, so that we may enter the heavenly sanctuary.

Let us be clear. Christ’s mission on earth was not only to redeem us, but to prepare the very path we must now walk. His suffering teaches us how to carry our crosses. His death shows us how to surrender in love. His resurrection gives us hope that death is not the end. And His Ascension reveals the destiny that awaits those who persevere in grace. He has gone before us so that we might follow after Him. And it is the Holy Spirit who makes that possible.

And here is the great reversal, the divine irony that ought to leave us in awe: We, through sin, introduced suffering and death into the world. But God, in His mercy, has used even the consequences of our rebellion as the instruments of our salvation. The Cross, once a sign of shame, is now the sign of victory. Death, once the final curse, has become the door to eternal life. This is not just God healing what is broken; it is God turning the world upside down to reveal a love so powerful that it transforms evil into good, and suffering into glory.

While Christ returns to the Father, He does not abandon us like orphans. He sends His Spirit to dwell not only in each believer, but also in the Church, the Body of Christ on earth. The Spirit empowers the Church to carry forward His mission. Christ gives us the Church to guide us, and the sacraments to nourish us on our pilgrimage from this world to the next.

In the Eucharist, heaven touches earth. The risen and ascended Lord becomes present to us, not merely in symbol, but in reality, even as He reigns in glory. In every Communion, we taste the life for which we were made. Though He has entered the heavenly sanctuary, He does not leave us behind. In every Mass, the veil is drawn back, and we are caught up into the liturgy of heaven. We are joined to the once-for-all sacrifice He now presents before the Father, and we receive Him in body, blood, soul, and divinity into our very selves.

This is the miracle of the Ascension. Christ is not absent; He is present in a new and more powerful way. He has gone before us, not to depart, but to draw us into the life of God. The Eucharist is our communion with the glorified Christ. It is our foretaste of heaven, the down payment of the glory to come. By receiving Him now, we are strengthened to follow Him there.

He ascends to mediate between God and man, to prepare a place for us (cf. John 14:2–3). And now we are called to follow Him. The Spirit enables us to love as He loved, to take up our crosses, and to leave behind what is worldly and vain. O happy fault, that earned for us so great a Savior.

He is risen, and He is ascended. So we, like little children, follow Him. We suffer with Him that we may rise with Him. We live for Him that we may dwell forever with the Father.

Like the apostles gazing into the sky (Acts 1:9–11), we may find ourselves stalled by wonder or fear. But the voice of the angel calls to us too: He will return. And until then, we have work to do.

As we await the coming of Pentecost, we are invited to prepare our hearts to receive the Spirit more deeply through prayer, repentance, and renewal. Let us return to Scripture, to the sacraments, to love of neighbor and love of God. Let us become His witnesses in our homes, in our work, and in every place He sends us.

On the last day, Christ will come again to judge the living and the dead. He will not judge us by wealth, success, or even theological knowledge, but by how we have used the grace we have received and the charity we have lived. He has prepared us for this test. Now, by the Spirit, let us take up our cross and follow where He has gone before.

If Jesus returned today, would He find you watching the sky or living your mission?