A Fresh Look

A Reflection on the First Reading for Sunday, June 1st, 2025:
The Ascension of the Lord

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Acts
1:1-11

In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the Apostles whom he had chosen. After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. “This,” he said, “is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

I recently sat my husband down to make him watch the 1972 animated Dr. Seuss short "The Lorax." It was a staple of my childhood, but he had never seen it. In brief, The Lorax is the guardian of the forest, particularly the beautiful truffula trees. A greedy businessman comes to town and starts cutting all the trees down to turn them into products, heedless of the Lorax’s pleas. In the end, when all of the trees are felled, the narrator says:

“The Lorax said nothing. Just gave me a glance... just gave me a very sad, sad backward glance... as he lifted himself by the seat of his pants. And I'll never forget the grim look on his face when he hoisted himself and took leave of this place, through a hole in the smog, without leaving a trace.”

In the animation, he does just that. He flies all the way up into the sky and is enveloped by the dark grey clouds.

And, re-watching this for the first time as an adult, I realized where my mental image of the Ascension came from. Well, aside from lifting by the seat of his pants.

But it’s true: I have always pictured Jesus saying his final commission and then with a solemn face just… flying up into a hole in the clouds. Maybe accompanied by an ascending woooop sound effect. And from that moment on, He’s somewhere else where we can’t go, and we’re down here, praying for Him to come back soon.

This is obviously an incorrect and immature understanding of both the mystery, and really the whole cosmology of the Ascension. In ascending to the Father, Jesus brings the human into the divine, opening heaven, and intimately (if somewhat invisibly) infusing life on earth with His life through the Spirit. 

So clearly adult Kate needs some new imagery to work with. So I turned to the earliest icons of the Ascension. Though all have their own spin, they all feature Mary standing front and centre in prayer, the Apostles (and St. Paul too, because these are not going for historical accuracy) looking up, or praying. Angels are present, both above and below.

These icons show the truth of this mystery. A human man enters into heaven. The two realms kiss, bringing us closer to our ultimate prayer of “Thy kingdom come... on earth as it is in heaven.” Jesus ascends not to leave us, but to grow infinitely closer to us. He sends his angels among us, and, with Mary’s example, we are reminded that what’s above and what’s below are always united through prayer.

So here's my Seussian re-write...
“Then Jesus said “Children, my spirit will come. And I will be with you for the tough times to come.” Then He lifted himself off his glorious bum. And we’ll always adore the smile on His face when He went to His Father’s high holy place, through a break in the cloud, to shower us with grace.”




Kate Mosher

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