Feast of the Ascension

The Upward Gaze and the Outward Reach
Feast of the Ascension May 13th 2026

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the

Holy Spirit, Amen.
Today, we stand with the disciples on the Mount of Olives, our necks craned and our eyes fixed on the clouds.
The Ascension of Jesus can feel like a story of departure a divine "goodbye."
But if we look closer, it is actually a story of ultimate presence and a radical call to unity.
When Christ ascended, He didn't leave the world to its own devices; He expanded His ministry from a single physical body to a mystical one: us.

The Paradox of the "Absent" King In times of warfare and global unrest, the Ascension can feel particularly challenging.
We look at a world fractured by borders, ideologies, and violence, and we might ask:
"Where is the King of Peace, Why did He leave us when we are so clearly struggling to get along".

The answer lies in the transition from visibility to responsibility.
During His Earthly Ministry: Christ showed us the pattern of love.
After the Ascension: Christ gives us the power (the Holy Spirit) to become that love.
By ascending, Jesus removed the physical boundaries of His presence so that He could be equally present to the soldier in a trench, the refugee on a boat, and the family praying for peace in a quiet living room.

Cohesion in the Midst of Conflict
The disciples were a messy group tax collectors, fishermen, zealots living under the shadow of the Roman Empire. They knew political tension. Yet, the Ascension forced a new kind of cohesion upon them. They were no longer following a leader down a dusty road; they were now the hands and feet of that leader in a broken world.

"He is before all things, and in him all things hold together." Colossians 1:17
True unity is not the absence of conflict, but the presence of a shared purpose that is higher than our divisions. In times of war, the temptation is to "otherize" to see the person across the border as an enemy. The Ascension reminds us that if Christ is the head of all humanity, then every person we meet is a member of the same body. You cannot strike your neighbor without wounding the Christ who dwells within them.

The Commandment of Love
Peace is not merely a ceasefire; it is a "tranquility of order" built on love.

As Jesus ascends, He leaves us with a mission that is deceptively simple and impossibly difficult: To love as He loved.
Love as a Bridge: Love is the only force capable of crossing the chasms created by war.

Unity as a Witness: Our ability to stand together, despite our differences, is the greatest proof to a skeptical world that the Gospel is true.

Standing Our Ground
As the angels told the disciples: "Why do you stand here looking into the sky" This is a gentle nudge. We cannot spend our lives in "spiritual escapism," waiting for a divine rescue while the world suffers. We are called to bring the "heights" of heaven down to the "trenches" of earth.

Our Task Today:
Seek Cohesion: Build bridges in your community where there is currently friction.
Practice Active Peace: Peace is a verb. It requires the courage to forgive and the humility to listen.
Embody Unity: Recognize that our citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven supersedes any earthly flag.

Conclusion
Christ has ascended so that He may fill all things. Let us not be a people who look upward in longing, but a people who look outward in love. In a world of fragments, let us be the glue. In a world of war, let us be the peace. Amen.