Ascension Thursday

In the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, the celebration of the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord is transferred to Sunday.  This doesn't, however, keep us from reflecting on this marvelous and important happening of the Church.  Because of this, the Office of Readings for today comes from Friday of the Sixth Week of Easter, and speaks specifically of the Ascension.

As I read the second reading today, from a sermon by St. Leo the Great on the Ascension, it reminded me that often times our culture seeks to overemphasize the human aspect of Christ, and in doing so forgets, or at least underplays, His divine nature.  St. Leo seeks to stress that, for those of us who believe without having seen the risen Lord in the Flesh, the dual natures of Christ -- God and Man -- allow the the fulfillment of a reciprocal relationship between the divine and the human in a way that transcends the tangible:

"While [Christ's] glorified body retained the same nature, those who believed in him was now summoned to heights where, as the Father's equal, the only-begotten Son is reached not by physical handling but by spiritual discernment."

Happy Ascension Day to you, my friend.  May the faithfulness of Christ to His people act as a means to fortify our own faith and surety as children of God.