Today we rejoice because Jesus has taken his wounded body, our
wounded body, with him to Paradise. He has taken all of it, all that we are,
all that we are right now- in its beauty and its sinful shoddiness, our
materiality, our very flesh, all our stuff, into heaven with him forever. Thus
even all we see and smell and touch and use all day long is somehow revealed as
sacred. This is what the Ascension celebrates. It is the great feast of
intersection, interconnectedness. From the beginning Jesus has embodied this
joining of heaven and earth in his very self; this is why he would often speak
of his body as Temple. It’s how he understood himself- as the ultimate meeting
of place of God with his people. He knew it all along. And now what began
with his quiet descent into Mary’s womb has comes to its perfect fulfillment.
What is more, the Ascension of Jesus in his humanity is a
sign of things to come for all of us and for all creation, a great sign of
hope, for it reveals the destiny God intends for each of us. Our homeland as
human beings is heaven. And somehow we’re already there in Christ. Flesh has
been redeemed and glorified, and so in Christ Jesus matter will last forever
and be glorified forever.* Amazingly our flesh is very precious to God.
This wounded, embarrassed body that we are individually, corporately- Jesus has
taken with him into Paradise forever. The Ascension is the festival of the
future of our flesh.
*See homily of Bishop Utener for the
Ascension.