Ascension, Year A (2026) - Fr Matthew Boland, OP

Today’s feast marks a watershed moment in the history of salvation. It marks an end and a beginning. It is like a hinge on which turns God’s plan of salvation for humanity. We see this in the readings. In the Gospel, we heard the last words of Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel, just before his Ascension. And in the First Reading, we heard the first words of the Acts of the Apostles, and the last words of Jesus as he ascended. So, the Ascension is like a hinge which connects the ministry of Jesus on earth, recounted in the Gospels, to his continuing ministry through his disciples, in the Acts of the Apostles.

The image of a hinge is an interesting one, since it describes how two things can be joined together, connected. But perhaps there is a better image. After all, today’s feast is called the “Ascension,” and, as Paul says in his Letter to the Ephesians, if he “ascended,” that must mean he “descended.” Perhaps we can find a vertical image, rather than a horizontal one.

In fact, we do find a very apt image for this all the way back in Genesis, the very first book of the Bible. In chapter 28, we read that Jacob, the son of Isaac, had a dream, “And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it!”

A ladder, in a sense, by its nature, is in two places at once. It joins together, and provides passage, between a lower and a higher place. Jacob’s ladder is a portal, if you like, between heaven and earth, whereby holy things, represented here as angels, enter into the world from heaven, and by which holy things, perhaps holy people, enter heaven from earth. Jacob calls this place where the ladder is found the “House of God” (Bethel)”, and the “Gate of Heaven”.

Like many images and stories in the Old Testament, this is interesting, but quite mysterious. What, or rather who, could this ladder be?

We find the answer, as always, in the New Testament, in this case, in the Gospel of John. If you remember, in the first chapter of John’s Gospel, Nathanael meets Jesus for the first time, and Jesus makes clear that he already knew Nathanael when he saw him under the fig tree. Nathanael is astounded at this. He says, “You are the Son of God, the King of Israel!” Jesus says to him, “You will see greater things than these. Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man."

We see, then, that the Son of man is the ladder—Jesus is the ladder between heaven and earth. He is also the Gate of Heaven, as he says himself in John’s Gospel, “I am the gate”. He is the gate through whom the sheep, who hear his voice, enter into eternal life. He is also the House of God, Bethel—he contains in himself the fullness of divinity, in a human body, and everyone who is found in him, who dwells in him, God dwells in that person, and that person in God.

He is the one who came down from heaven, who joined heaven to earth. The eternal, omnipotent, omniscient, divine Person of the Holy Trinity, Son of God, descended from heaven, was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man. He became one of us, became as we are. Today, we celebrate the entrance of that man, as a human being, as one of us, into heaven, to sit at the right hand of God. By this act he has joined earth to heaven, and heaven to earth, and established an unbreakable link between the two, which is himself, the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Now, the salient question is: How do we climb this ladder? Well, this is perhaps where the limitations of this particular image appear. We don’t climb the ladder; rather, we are incorporated into the ladder, into Christ, an incorporation which takes place at Baptism. And so, like Christ, we are already present in heaven and citizens of heaven, as members of his Body. We do, however, need to remain in him, to be found in him, especially at death. If we are a citizen of heaven in this life, then so will we be in the next life. To do this, we need to follow his commandments, which is the same thing as to live as he did.

But, to live like Jesus … How can we poor, weak humans do this? The answer to that question lies in next week’s solemnity, Pentecost, when Jesus gives his Spirit to us, his Body, so that we can live like him, and carry out his mission in the world. Jesus only began his mission during his earthly life—he continues it through his Church by clothing her with power from on high.

In anticipation of the celebration of Pentecost, today we turn to the way that Jesus renews and strengthens the baptismal bond between us and him, which is in the Eucharist. This, if you like, is the foot of the ladder, which remains on earth and connects us to heaven. When we look up at the Eucharist during the elevation, we look up from this veil of tears, where Christ remains with us, to our destiny, which is in heaven. When we receive him today, let us ask him to give us a foretaste of heaven, to renew the grace of our Baptism within us, so that we remain in him, until that day when we go to our true home, as citizens, already, of heaven.

Fr Matthew Boland, OP is the Master of Students, assigned to St Dominic's Priory, Melbourne.