(Given at the 5:30 pm Sunday youth Mass at OLP)
I love surprise parties. My birthday is this Thursday, by the way, so . . . Just joking. Anyway, I’ve always liked surprises. Planning them is the best. I may not always know how things are going to play out, but that’s part of the fun! I remember one year where my dad surprised my mom with a new car. We got the bow and everything, just like in those car commercials. My mom was stunned; it made for a great video! We planned it very well, but I still marveled at how it all went. Today, we celebrate the Ascension of Jesus into heaven. Jesus is lifted up into the sky after spending 40 days with his disciples following the Resurrection. His mission on saving the world from the evil one is complete. But what next? Early Church Fathers like Saint Ambrose speak of the angels being in awe and wonder, being bewildered and marveling at the sight of Jesus entering heaven in the flesh. Until that point, no flesh had dared to enter into the realms of endless day. How could something lower than the angels enter their most holy and sacred abode? But this is what Jesus does. He takes his humanity all the way to the throne of God the Father. Psalm 24 says, “Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.” Our psalm from tonight states, “God mounts his throne amid shouts of joy; the LORD, amid trumpet blasts.” Jesus sits at the right hand of his Father and forever enthrones human nature. Even above the angels themselves. They marvel at the culmination of God’s plan unfolding before their eyes! It is something new. Not new in the sense that Jesus was apart from his Father. No, Jesus never left the Father’s presence in a strict sense; God was always with him. John 14:11 states as much, “The Father is in me, and I am in the Father.” Jesus was always a delight to his Father, even and especially on the Cross. He always did his Father’s will. Now, God’s will is complete. Jesus has not only restored human dignity, but has elevated it to the highest heavens. This, my brothers and sisters, this is why human nature, human beings, each one of us, is so precious. This is why the Church takes so seriously human morality and justice. This is why you and I should never think that any fellow human being–or even ourselves–is worthless or unworthy of love. God thinks otherwise.