Mary van Balen

Originally appeared in the Catholic Times, issue: May 12, 2013

When beginning studies for a Masters Degree in theology, I was in the midst of a difficult time in other areas of my life. Perhaps it was Providence that one book assigned for a seminar was Ronald Rolheiser’s The Holy Longing. The instructor required each member of the class to prepare a presentation on a particular chapter. Mine was “The Paschal Mystery.” That was almost eight years ago, and I still find hope and wisdom in Rolheiser’s presentation of that holy mystery.

Rolheiser put a colloquial twist on the Ascension, describing its message this way: “Do not cling to the old, let it ascend and give you its blessing.” A necessary step to Pentecost, where we accept the Spirit for the moment we are living.

I had always thought of the Ascension as an event in Jesus’ life, not in my own. He told his disciples during their last meal before his death that his going away is necessary:”…for if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to your; but if I go, I will send him to you.” Death. That was Jesus’ first “going away.”

His followers were devastated. Confused and afraid, they talked, and waited, and worried. I’m sure they prayed, but perhaps it was the same type of prayer we hold in our hearts when life takes turns we do not understand, and we cannot find God anywhere in it.

Then came the resurrection. Jesus was back! He shared food with them, blessed them, and walked with them. When they finally realized who he was, they must have been euphoric. But there was a problem: He wasn’t going to stay. Read More 

On this feast of the Ascension, I offer the reflections of two Catholic's on the subject, one a theologian and the other a specialist in the fields of spirituality and systematic theology. The first is Karl Rahner, a German Jesuit whose contributions including those at Vatican II have made him one of the most influential theologians of the twentieth century. In the book The Great Church Year: The Best of Karl Rahner's Homilies, Sermons, and Meditations, he writes of the gift of the Spirit which is the gift of the Ascension. Though through his leaving Jesus seems to be removed from us, he is really closer to us than he could have been in the flesh: He dwells within us in the Spirit.

"We notice nothing of this, and that is why the ascension seems to be a separation. But it is a separation only for our paltry consciousness. We must will to believe in such a nearness--in the Holy Spirit.

The ascension is the universal event of salvation history that must recur in each individual, in our personal salvation history through grace. When we become poor, then we become rich. When the lights of the world grow dark, then we are bathed in light...When we think we feel only a waste and emptiness of the heart, when all the joy of celebrating appears to be only official fuss, because the real truth around us cannot yet be admitted, then we are in truth better prepared for the real feast of the Ascension than we might suppose."

Hmm...How does that work, in my life? In yours? Read More