The Redemptive Meaning of the Ascension: Part 3
Through his Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension Christ offered himself to his heavenly Father to save all people from sin and sanctify them. Christ’s act of loving obedience by dying on the Cross was more pleasing to the Father than sins were displeasing to him. Christ reversed Adam’s fault: “As by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man’s obedience many will be made righteous” (Rom 5:19).
Christ was the Suffering Servant foretold by the prophets; he “[made] himself an offering for sin “when “he bore the sin of many,” and he “[makes] many to be accounted righteous” for “he [bears] their iniquities” (Is 53:10-12).Christ atoned for the faults of all people and made satisfaction for those sins to the Father.
CCC 615: "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man's obedience many will be made righteous." By his obedience unto death, Jesus accomplished the substitution of the suffering Servant, who "makes himself an offering for sin", when "he bore the sin of many", and who "shall make many to be accounted righteous", for "he shall bear their iniquities". Jesus atoned for our faults and made satisfaction for our sins to the Father.”
In a sense, through the effects of grace, The Ascension of Christ into heaven and the subsequent descent of the Holy Spirit made Christ more accessible than he was during his public life. Jesus told his disciples that it was necessary for him to leave so that the "Advocate" (the Holy Spirit) could come (John 16:7). The Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles on the day of Pentecost, coming to them with the sound of a mighty wind and coming to rest upon them under the appearance of tongues of fire.
The descent of the Holy Spirit allows Christ to be present within believers, rather than merely beside them. Through the effects of sanctifying grace, Christ becomes intimately present in the souls of the faithful. He is truly, really, and substantially present in the Holy Eucharist, which is available in tabernacles throughout the world.
Bishop Robert Barron describes the Ascension not as an absence, but as a "more intense presence". He is now present through his Church, in the proclamation of the Word, and in the "two or three gathered in his name". Christ’s Ascension means he is in the heavenly realm interceding for humanity while simultaneously animating his Body, the Church, on earth.
CCC 788: “When his visible presence was taken from them, Jesus did not leave his disciples orphans. He promised to remain with them until the end of time; he sent them his Spirit. As a result communion with Jesus has become, in a way, more intense: "By communicating his Spirit, Christ mystically constitutes as his body those brothers of his who are called together from every nation."
We hope to follow Christ. In the Nicene Creed that we recite at Mass expresses our future hope: “I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and life of the world to come.” Christ opened the gates of heaven for us by ascending to the right hand of the Father in his glorifies Body, and it is our sincere hope and desire that our own glorified bodies will unite with our souls in everlasting happiness at the end of time.
CCC 989: “We firmly believe, and hence we hope that, just as Christ is truly risen from the dead and lives for ever, so after death the righteous will live forever with the risen Christ and he will raise them up on the last day. Our resurrection, like his own, will be the work of the Most Holy Trinity: If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit who dwells in you.”
—Deacon Gerry Flamm
“Dear children, today, I am calling you to be prayer and a blessing for all those who have not come to know God’s love. Little children, be different from others and be positive people of prayer and love towards God, that with your lives, you may be a sign of God’s love to others. I bless you with my motherly blessing and intercede for each of you before my Son Jesus. Thank you for having responded to my call.”