Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The gospel tell us what the fruit of the Ascension is. It says they returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were in the temple blessing the Lord. This is the fruit that the Lord brings to us today. Christ is the one who opened heaven so that we can bless the Lord since we are happy and full of joy. Not to mention that we are in Jerusalem, which is the Christian community. To be in Jerusalem is to be joyful and to bless the Lord. To bless him is to speak well of him and to speak well of his Father. He has done all things well in my history and in yours.
He has opened heaven for us. Heaven is now open, which means that he has passed from hell to heaven after being there for three days. He rises and then ascends to the heavens after presenting himself as being resurrected to his disciples. We can say that he has broken the barrier of death. He not only destroyed death by dying and rising, but he has done something much greater that since he will never die again. After being in hell, he has entered heaven, and we can experience this with him. He is the only one who can go from hell to heaven. So, if you are in hell today, destroyed by your sins, shattered by something that has made you sad, you no longer need to be sad because with Christ you can know how it is to be with him in heaven.
What does it mean to be in heaven? It means that you can pass from cursing to blessing; you can pass from sadness to joy. What are you sad about today? That your plans are not fulfilled, your idols have not given you joy. Your child is not the way you want him to be and the same with your spouse. Your boyfriend uses you and your father hates you, so you hate him in return.
What is it today that has you cursing your history or where you live or what you don’t have that causes you to speak badly? Deep inside of us are two brothers; one is a blessing, and one is a curse. There is no middle ground. You bless or you curse. There is life or there is death, which one is inside of you? God said to the people of Israel, I set before you life or death, what do you choose today? We are here today to convert, not to live a double life, not to be hypocrites or phonies. How many fakes are here and how may Pharisees are here who believe that they are very good but always destroy the other with judgments and bitterness. We are here to convert, and the Lord gives us this possibility of conversion by opening up heaven.
These days nobody looks up to heaven, no one looks at the sky. Even physically when walking along the street, who looks up? No one. You keep walking and you pass me by, and you did not even greet me. I just keep going in my world and I don’t know who passes me or who doesn’t since I am always looking at the ground. I am always in a rush, running here and there and thinking about by things and what I need to do. We only look up to see if it will rain or not. Our nature is to be constantly looking at the things of this earth. We are stuck in the things of the world: money, health, your plans and our life passes us by. When you were young you had to study to get a good job and make money and then to buy a house and more money to support the children. We spend our whole life making money and then when you are old you spend your whole life going to the doctor. And then all of a sudden, your life is over, and you never had heaven in front of you or if you did, you didn’t enter it.
On this solemnity of the Ascension there is this beautiful scene in the first reading. The disciples are standing there looking at the sky and two men dressed in white and say, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky?” It is a wonderful question. Why are you looking at the sky here in this Eucharist because Christ is here who returns today, and he makes heaven present? Don’t stand there looking up but enter heaven otherwise you will stand there the rest of your life looking at heaven. The men in white say, hey, wake up, man, don’t look at heaven, enter it. How do you enter it? By loving, by forgiving. The Lord says convert today, love today, forgive today! When you love, you can enter heaven.
When you enter your marriage, you enter heaven; when you enter your loneliness you enter heaven; when you enter your cancer you enter heaven. When you accept the death of your child, you enter heaven. When you accept your selfish spouse, you enter heaven; when you accept not being a mother you can enter heaven. There is no man closer to heaven than the one who is closest to the cross, said a saint. Today if you are close to the cross of Christ, then you are living in heaven today. Now don’t stay looking up at it; enter it and you will experience joy, and you will be able to bless God for it.
Christianity is not to live a life of resignation. God does not want to give you a bitter life. He gives you marriage so you can experience heaven. You may say, how can I experience heaven with this husband of mine? I tell you the problem is not your husband, who is selfish, a drunkard and violent. The problem is yours and in your heart. God has given you a husband so that by loving him you can experience heaven. The problem for young people is not your dad; the problem is your heart. We want a god that acts like a genie and changes everything and everybody with a wrinkle of his nose.
The problem is not in the other person. The problem is in our heart. Christ by opening heaven wants to transform our hearts by putting us in the presence of the Father. This is what gives us joy, like the Prodigal Son who returns to the Father. He cannot return unless there is a way to return because we are created in the image and likeness of God. So, you will not love in this world because we are not from this world. We are pilgrims; how amazing. Let us continue to walk as a Christian because Christ is dragging us to the Father. Christ is like a magnet that attracts us. He is the magnet, and we are the metal. Since the magnet is in heaven the metal will follow him.