The Ascention of the Lord into HeavenSt. Thomas explains that in the Ascension Jesus enters into heaven with our humanity! _________
He glorifies human nature! Again, he didn’t do this for himself, but for us. Here Thomas cites Micah 2:13, "He shall go up that shall open the way before them." Thomas says, Christ is the Head―and where the Head goes, the Body (the Mystical Body) follows. This is how Jesus himself explains the Ascension: “that where I am you may be also” (John 14:3). Thus Jesus leads those souls he went to in his descent into Hell on Holy Saturday into heaven. Aquinas cites Psalm 67:19 and Ephesians 4, where Paul explains, “Therefore it is said, ‘When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.’ (In saying, ‘He ascended,’ what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is he who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things)” (Eph 4:8-10).
St. Thomas sums it up in this way: “Christ's Passion is the cause of our ascending to heaven, properly speaking, by removing the hindrance which is sin, and also by way of merit: whereas Christ's Ascension is the direct cause of our ascension, as by beginning it in Him who is our Head, with whom the members must be united.”
___Originally posted at Singing in the Reign Michael Barber
