Homily originally presented on June 2, 2019

To enter into Jesus is to enter into Heaven!

Where’s Heaven?           Which way do you go ... to get to Heaven?

You know ... when we ask kids, “Where’s Heaven?”

They commonly say up there ... and they point up to the sky.

How do they know that?           How do we know that?

Well, several passages in the Bible give us the impression that Heaven is up there, such as our First Reading from Acts, where

angels, seen as two men dressed in white, ask the Apostles,

“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.”

In our Second Reading, St. Paul recounts the Father’s mighty actions ...

“raising (Jesus) from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavens,

far above every principality.”

In our Gospel, St. Luke tells us, how Jesus “raised his hands and blessed (His Apostles), and as he blessed them he parted from them and was taken up to heaven.”

And, in our Nicene Creed that we will pray together in a few minutes, we’ll profess:  

“For us men and for our salvation, He came down from Heaven.” Then we say,

“He ascended into Heaven and is seated at the Right Hand of the Father.”

Indeed, the Feast we celebrate today we call the Ascension!

So we indeed have this image of Heaven being somewhere up in the sky.

We’re here on earth ... and Heaven is somewhere above … up in the sky.

Which might make us think that since Jesus went up to Heaven, He is away from us.

Well, I’d like to share another idea with you on where Heaven is.

It’s an insight that comes from Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who wrote,

“It would be a mistake to interpret the Ascension as

‘the temporary absence of Christ from the world.’

Rather, we go to Heaven to the extent that we go to Jesus Christ and enter into him.”

So he concludes, “Jesus Himself is what we call heaven.”

Have you ever thought about that before? What a beautiful insight to contemplate.

That means that Heaven is not just some place up in the sky.

But rather, Heaven is wherever Jesus is!

And where is Jesus?       As God, He can be anywhere He wants ...

and He wants to be with us ... which means ... He’s here on earth too!

Where is Jesus?    Well, His power is in all seven of the Sacraments.

And thanks to the miracle He performed and established to be perpetuated at

the Last Supper ... both His power and His Presence are in the Eucharist.

It’s there that Jesus is truly and substantially present to us ...

which is why the Eucharist is called ... the Most Blessed Sacrament!

Of the 7, it is the Most Blessed ... for it is both the power and presence of Jesus.

Yes, it’s in the Eucharist that Jesus is truly present to us ... sacramentally!

And because of this we can accurately say that the Eucharist ...

is a foretaste of Heaven … because it is a foretaste of Jesus.

We can’t see Him with our eyes ... but we believe His words ...

“Take and eat, this is My Body. Take and drink, this is My Blood.

and then He said ... “Do this in memory of Me.”

So, Jesus is truly with us, veiled under the appearance of bread and wine.

Which means that the Eucharist is really ... Heaven on earth!

Everyone says they want to go to Heaven.

Well, we actually do go to Heaven ... each time we receive Holy Communion …

or more precisely … Heaven comes to us!

That is why I often describe the Mass as the place where Heaven meets Earth!

Do you think of that when you return to your pew after receiving Holy Communion!

Do you realize how special it is to receive the Eucharist?

to receive Jesus and have that moment ... that foretaste of Heaven?

What are you saying to Jesus in the moments after you receive Him.  

Four years ago, I asked this at a Youth Retreat and no one raised their hand!

You have a few minutes to pour out your heart to the Lord ... truly there with you ... are you taking advantage of that?

Kneeling down after receiving Holy Communion is not the time to be thinking about anything else ... but Him. Please don’t be looking around and watching others receive Communion and watching me purify the vessels. Close your eyes and tell Jesus how much you love Him ... thank Him for blessings and ask Him for needs.

All throughout the Scriptures, God has revealed His desire to be near to us.

Just two Sundays ago, you heard this proclaimed from the Book of Revelation,

“Behold, God’s dwelling is with the human race …

God himself will always be with them as their God.”

Understanding God’s desire to be with us always, should wipe away any thought that the Ascension of Jesus to the Father in Heaven marked the beginning of

“a temporary absence of Christ from the world.”

Jesus is definitely not absent from the world.

Yes, He is in Heaven at the right hand of the Father,

and, He is also here with us on earth.

He is truly present on our Altars at every Mass.

and truly present in the Tabernacle of every Catholic Church.

This is a great mystery for sure but God wants us to realize

that Jesus did not leave the Father when he came down to earth ...

and Jesus did not leave us when He ascended into Heaven.

So, Jesus isn’t just in Heaven … Jesus is here with us too.

God is with His people, just as He promised!

Now since we believe that Jesus was fully human and fully divine,

then in His Ascension, Jesus took our humanity and brought it into

the inner life of God in a brand new way!

Now God wasn’t just with His people ... but His people were now with God!

So rather than Jesus’ Ascension being viewed as a time of temporary separation,

the Ascension signifies that we now have a new intimacy with God.

Jesus took our humanity and brought it into the Trinity!

The Ascension reveals that man has found an everlasting place ... in God!

This is reason for great joy ... like that expressed in our Responsorial Psalm where we sang, “All you peoples, clap your hands, shout to God with cries of gladness.”

And as we heard in the Gospel ... after Jesus “parted from (the Apostles)

and was taken up to heaven, they returned to Jerusalem with great joy.”

The only way they could have gone away with great joy is because they understood that even though Jesus ascended to the Father ... He never left them ...

and He would be with them always ... as he marked out the way for them to follow

... to one day  be with the Father in Heaven.  

As a result of Easter ... the Gates of Heaven are open ... now how do we enter?

Remember the words of Pope Emeritus Benedict,

     “we go to heaven to the extent that we go to Jesus Christ and enter into Him.”

Many people want to go to Heaven, and many look for Heaven in this world.      But Heaven is not in the world ... Heaven is being in God.

Notice the Risen Jesus didn’t stay long here on Earth after rising from the dead,

He remained here only 40 days. Then He ascended to the Father.

By leaving the Earth and ascending to be with the Father,

Jesus clearly showed us where our focus in life should be …

not on the things of this earth ... but on the things of Heaven.

Jesus wants each one of us to be with Him, which means to be in Heaven.

Recall the many times Jesus says in the Gospels, “Come, follow Me!”

That certainly implies that He’s leading us somewhere!

Where is Jesus leading us?       To the Father ... in the Kingdom of Heaven!

In what direction is Heaven?            Is it really up in the sky?

Well not exactly ... it’s really wherever Jesus is!

So, to go to Heaven ... you need to go to Jesus!

St. Catherine of Sienna used to say,

“Heaven is here for all those on their way to Heaven!”

As we celebrate the Feast of Our Lord’s Ascension into Heaven,

let’s realize that Jesus is there and here ... that He never really left us.

As our Savior and Lord, Jesus now reigns in Heaven at the right hand of the Father.

As our Brother and Friend, Jesus is still here on Earth

to nourish us with Himself and heal us with His Mercy

so that we enter ever more deeply into Him until

we finally reside with Him and the Father in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Do you want to find your way to Heaven?

Remember ,

“We go to heaven to the extent that we go to Jesus Christ ... and enter into Him.”