Daily Catholic Lectio
Sun, 17 May 2026
Ascension of the Lord
Ac 1:1–11. Eph 1:17–23. Mt 28:16–20
Eyes to Heaven, Feet on the Ground
Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord. The risen Jesus returns to the Father, but He does not abandon His disciples. He does not abandon the Church. He does not abandon us. The Ascension is not a final separation. It is a new way of the presence of Jesus.
The Ascension is not easy to understand. There are some difficulties. The first difficulty concerns the body of Jesus. During His earthly life, Jesus had a human body like ours. He walked, ate, suffered, and died on the cross. After the resurrection, however, His body became glorious. So we may ask: what happens to the body of Jesus in the Ascension?
The second difficulty concerns the presence of Jesus. After the Ascension, Jesus is no longer visible as before. How can He still be present among us? Is He only a memory? Only a feeling? Or is His presence real?
The third difficulty concerns the biblical accounts. The Gospels speak about the Ascension in different ways. Matthew does not directly describe the Ascension. Mark and Luke speak about it. In the Acts of the Apostles, Luke places the Ascension forty days after the resurrection.
To understand this mystery, we must change the question. We should not first ask, “How did the Ascension happen?” We should ask, “Why the Ascension?” When we ask “how,” we remain in curiosity. When we ask “why,” we enter into the deeper meaning of faith.
In the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, Jesus promises the Holy Spirit to the disciples. He says, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.” Then He is lifted up, and a cloud takes Him from their sight. In the Bible, the cloud is a sign of the presence of God. Jesus does not disappear into nothingness. He enters the glory of the Father. He is no longer visible to the eyes, but He continues to be present in a new way.
Then the angels say to the disciples: “Men of Galilee, why are you standing looking up toward heaven?” This is a very important sentence. The disciples must not remain standing still. They must not live only in memory. They must return to life and begin their mission. We can summarize the message of the Ascension like this: eyes to heaven, feet on the ground.
In the second reading, Saint Paul says that God seated Christ at His right hand in heaven. To sit at the right hand of the Father means glory, authority, and victory. Jesus, who was humiliated and crucified, is now glorified. No power of evil is greater than Him. No fear can overcome Him.
Paul also says that Christ is the head of the Church and the Church is His body. This means that Jesus ascends to heaven, but He does not separate Himself from us. He continues to live in His Church. Where the Church is, there Christ continues His presence in the world.
In the Gospel, Jesus meets the disciples on the mountain. Some worship Him, while others doubt. This is very human. The Church begins with weak disciples, not perfect ones. Yet Jesus sends them on mission. He says: “Go and make disciples of all nations.”
The Ascension does not close the mission of Jesus. It opens it. Before, Jesus walked on the roads of Galilee. Now He continues to walk through His disciples. Before, He spoke with His own voice. Now He speaks through the Church. Before, He healed with His own hands. Now He wants to heal through our hands.
Finally, Jesus says: “I am with you always, until the end of the world.” This is the great promise of the Ascension. Jesus ascends to heaven, but He remains with us. He remains in the Word. He remains in the Eucharist. He remains in the sacraments. He remains in the community. He remains in the poor. He remains in the mission. He remains in the hearts of those who love.
The Ascension has a meaning for Jesus, for the disciples, and also for us. For Jesus, it means His return to the Father, His glorification, and the completion of His mission. In Him, our humanity enters into the glory of God.
For the disciples, it means growing in faith, receiving the mission, and preparing to receive the Holy Spirit. They can no longer follow Jesus with their eyes. They must follow Him with their hearts.
For us, the Ascension is an invitation to look toward heaven without escaping from the earth. Heaven is our final goal, but mission is our task. Faith must become concrete life: love, service, forgiveness, justice, and hope.
Above all, the Ascension reminds us that Jesus is always with us — in good days and difficult days, in days of light and in days of doubt. He is not absent. He is present in a new, deeper, and universal way.
Today the Lord invites us to keep our eyes turned toward heaven, but our feet firmly on the ground. Heaven is our hope. Earth is the place of our mission. And on this journey, we are not alone, because the risen Lord continues to walk with us every day.
Fr Yesu Karunanidhi
Archdiocese of Madurai
An initiative of “Yesni Prays”
Yesu Karunanidhi 
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