Ascension of the Lord, Year A (2026) – Homily
The Ascension of the Lord
Acts 1:1-11
Psalm 47:2-3, 6-7, 8-9 (6)
Ephesians 1:17-23
Matthew 28:16-20
May 14, 2026
The disciples had seen the power of God at work through Jesus in the mighty deeds He had done. They grew in knowledge as they listened to Jesus’ teaching.
In what they had seen and heard, the disciples found hope, hope that Jesus was the Messiah and would “restore the kingdom to Israel.”
Their hope seemed dashed when they saw Jesus crucified.
When the tomb was found empty on the third day, Easter morning, they were confused. Why was the tomb empty?
The tomb was empty because Jesus had risen just as He had said He would. We can count on what Jesus said.
In the Resurrection, the disciples saw new hope. Jesus has power even over death. With hope the eleven would go “to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them.”
There they would worship him. They had faith but they also had doubt.
Jesus did not give up on them because of their doubt. He understood their doubt because no one had risen from the grave before He came into the world. They did not yet understand.
Knowing their doubt, Jesus gave them a mission, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” They doubted but Jesus knew the Holy Spirit would help them with their doubt.
Jesus’ last words spoken in Matthew were, “I am with you always, until the end of the age.” He promised to be with them always and He offers the same promise to us.
So, why did He leave if He promised to be with us always?
It was the Father’s Will. Yet, in leaving, Jesus did not break his promise to be with them always. He knew the Holy Spirit would come after He left.
After his Resurrection, Jesus presented himself alive to the disciples for forty days “speaking about the kingdom of God.” Only then did He leave.
As He prepared to leave, He told them to “wait for “the promise of the Father…the Holy Spirit.” Only after all this did He leave.
Even the way He left was meant to strengthen the hope of his disciples. He did not simply disappear or walk away. Rather, “as they were looking on, He was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight.”
This is the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Why was it important for them to see him ascend? Why is it important for us to know what they experienced?
It was so that we can know in our heads and believe in our hearts that Jesus left to return to his place seating at the right hand of our Father in Heaven.
It is important for us to know this for us to know who Jesus truly is and that He intercedes for us from his place at the right hand of our Father in Heaven.
This gives us new and a stronger hope. The Holy Spirit will come to give us “a Spirit of wisdom and revelation.” In seeing Jesus return to his place in Heaven, we are shown the riches of his glory.
Did they still have some doubt? I do not know.
Do you have doubt? Do you lack understanding of the fullness of who Jesus is?
The things we experience in this world do not always make sense to us. We do not understand things like evil. We do not understand suffering.
Job did not understand but He believed.
The disciples did not understand everything immediately but they believed.
Do you believe? Do you believe in the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit? Do you believe everything that Jesus has taught us? Do you believe that Jesus’ truly becomes present in the Eucharist?
You may not understand but with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can have faith. We can believe because to have faith is to believe in what cannot be proven.
Have faith in Jesus as the way and the truth and the life and know that He intercedes for each and every person who believe from his seat at the right hand of the Father.