In John 15 and 16, Jesus tells his apostles that He is about to return to His Father – I can imagine there was a great heaviness in His voice due to His imminent passion and death, but then it seems that a light breaks through the darkness when He speaks of the coming of the Paraclete.  He tells his apostles to actually get excited, because He is about to send them the Holy Spirit.  And we should be excited, too.  We should feel the excitement of this time leading up to Pentecost.  Jesus has died for you.  Jesus has risen for you.  Heaven has been opened for you.  And Jesus continues to pour out His Holy Spirit on you.  What a glory.  What a joy!

Some lovely “Ascension clouds” over the Abbey of St. Walburga

Luke tells us of Jesus’ Ascension in his Gospel: “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.  They did him homage and then returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and they were continually in the temple praising God” (Luke 24:50-53).  Let us do the same as the apostles – let us go to church, full of excitement for what’s coming, a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  Let us imitate the zeal of the apostles in the early Church, who lived as though Jesus would return any minute.

We also hear a description of the Ascension in the Acts of the Apostles: “When they had gathered together they asked him, ‘Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’  He answered them, ‘It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority.  But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’  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’” (Acts 1:6-11).  So, I encourage you, every once in a while, remember to look up at the sky.  Is He there?  One day, He really will come, whether it is in our lifetime or not.  The fact that it’s going to happen is glorious –  And we will be taken up to meet Him in the clouds (cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:17).  Think about this!  We should be excited to hear about these things and ponder them, and respond by living full of expectation for His coming.  I hope we can all live with the spark of joy that this news brings, because the world needs the joy of God.

“The departing Jesus does not make his way to some distant star.  He enters into communion of power and life with the living God, into God’s dominion over space… Because Jesus is with the Father, he has not gone away but remains close to us.  Now he is no longer in one particular place in the world as he had been before the ‘Ascension’: now, through his power over space, he is present and accessible to all—throughout history and in every place… ‘We have come to know a threefold coming of the Lord.  The third coming takes place between the other two…his first coming was in the flesh and in weakness, this intermediary coming is in the spirit and in power, the last coming will be in glory and majesty’ (In Adventu Domini [by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux]).”

Pope Benedict XVI, “Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week”

One of the first readings the Church gives us during Advent is from the book of Revelation: “‘These words are trustworthy and true, and the Lord, the God of prophetic spirits, sent his angel to show his servants what must happen soon.’ ‘Behold, I am coming soon.’” (Rev. 22:6-7).  And that’s Advent.  He is coming soon.  Either we will see Him when He comes in the clouds, or we will see Him when we die and He comes to us, but one way or another we will see Him!  Am I ready?  Am I ready to see Him?  I think that we should have great joy when we think about this, not because we are confident in ourselves, but because we are confident in Him.  We should put great confidence in Him alone. 

Then we will have a great sense of joy about His coming, and we will strive to live for Christ purposefully at every moment, so that when He comes we are ready.  Part of that means being present to our prayer very purposefully, being present to each other very purposefully, giving a good example very purposefully.  Take the time to notice one another.  Don’t be too busy to notice those who are closest to you – those you whom you may take for granted.  Take the time to encourage one another.  Now is the time.  Now is the real time of joyful conversion.  Don’t wait, even an hour.  Begin.  Let each moment be a new beginning.  And then how bright would this world be – how bright! 

I also want to point out that in one of the special collects (prayers) that the Church has during Advent, we implore the Lord that “when He comes and knocks, He may find us watchful in prayer and exultant in His praise.”  He comes and knocks in a special way during this season, and it is for us to ask ourselves, “How does God knock on my soul?  Is my soul attentive?  What are the deepest desires of my soul?”  The season of Advent is the season of silence, so that you can be aware of what is going on in your soul, not only the negative things, but also the joyful things.  What do you do throughout the day that makes Christ say, “I’m so happy I knocked on your door!”?  The silence of Advent is a joyful silence, kept so that we can hear His footsteps when He comes, so that we can hear His voice.  It’s a happy waiting, like a child at Christmas waiting for Santa Claus to make noise on the roof.  It’s that sense of waiting in expectation, of asking: “When is it going to happen?”  You don’t want to miss it.  That’s the joyful silence of this season. 

And if anyone feels like a lost sheep this Advent, just remember the importance of crying out to the Good Shepherd to be found.  Why would someone not cry out?  Shame?  Pride?  Self-reliance?  But the Lord hears the cry of the poor, and He wants to find you and be found by you this Advent.  So remember to cry out to Him, and let yourself be found.