God goes up with shouts of joy!

St Luke's account of the Ascension tells us that when Jesus was carried up into heaven, the disciples worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy (Lk 24:51-2). Hence, the antiphon to the Psalm last Sunday:

God goes up with shouts of joy;

the Lord goes up with trumpet blast.

In some ways, it is difficult to understand how the disciples could rejoice in seeing their Lord, their close friend and leader, depart from the world never to be seen again. Consider the emotional roller-coaster they had been on over the previous two months. First, there was the triumphant entry to Jerusalem; then the solemnity of the Last Supper follow by the terror of the Crucifixion and the possibility of their own arrests and executions. This was followed by the joy of the resurrection. Now, Jesus leaves them again and, it is clear from the account in Acts, they are still a little confused as to what it was all about: Lord, has the time come? Are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel?, they ask (Acts 1:6). Where is the Holy Spirit when you need him, one might ask. 

But there is another dimension to this period in the history of the infant Church, one which Pope St Leo the Great touches on in one of his Sermons on the Ascension. He wrote:

The apostles themselves, though on many occasions they had been   strengthened by our Lord's miracles and instructed by his words, still panicked at the atrociousness of his passion, and only after some hesitation accepted the truth of his resurrection. But his ascension wrought such a change in them that whatever before had been a source of fear now became a source of joy for them. They fixed their minds on Christ's Godhead as he sat on his Father's right hand. The evidence of their eyes no longer held back their mental vision from contemplating this truth, that the Son descended from the Father without leaving him, and ascended from his disciples without departing from them.

Jesus promised, I am with you always, to the end of the age (Mt 28:20). St Leo, earlier in the same Sermon, explains this in a simple and quite beautiful phrase:

The visible presence of our Redeemer passed over into sacraments.

The ascension brought with it a deeper understanding of the nature of Jesus, the Son of God. With this knowledge, how could the disciples not be filled with joy? The descent of the Holy Spirit strengthened their faith and armed them with courage. Such was their joy in the gospel of salvation that, in spite of the dangers, they wanted nothing less than to share the good news with anyone prepared to listen... ...and even those who were not! 

It is this joy in the gospel that Pope Francis calls us to renew in his exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium.

The joy of the gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus. Those who accept his offer of salvation are set free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness and loneliness. with Christ, joy is constantly born anew. I wish to encourage the Christian faithful to embark upon a new chapter of evangelisation marked with this joy.  (EG 1)

Now, there's a challenge!