The Ascension of the Lord

Devotional

Day 1: Where the Head Has Gone

The disciples stood on the mountain, dirt clinging to their sandals as Galilean winds whipped their robes. Jesus approached – not as ghost but resurrected body – declaring all authority over earth and heaven. He commissioned them to baptize nations, then ascended until clouds hid Him. Their heads tilted upward, sand grinding beneath shifting feet. [23:24]

Jesus’ physical ascension anchors Christian hope. As man entered divine glory, He forged a path for our humanity. Where the Head goes, the body follows – not through self-effort but through His victory. Heaven isn’t abstraction but our inherited homeland.

You brush against eternity each time you choose prayer over distraction, service over self. What earthly concern currently blocks your upward gaze? When making decisions this week, ask: “Does this bend me toward heaven or chain me to earth?”

“He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.”
(Creed of Nicaea, Roman Missal)

Prayer: Ask Jesus to show you one earthly attachment He wants to loosen today.
Challenge: Write “Where is my head?” on three sticky notes. Place them where you’ll see them hourly.

Day 2: Worship Amidst Doubt

Eleven men knelt on rocky soil, calloused hands pressed to earth. They worshipped – yet doubt lingered like campfire smoke in their clothes. Jesus didn’t scold their mixed faith. He drew near, commissioning them anyway. Raw worship and unanswered questions coexisted as they obeyed. [34:34]

God uses progressing disciples, not perfected saints. The disciples’ doubt didn’t nullify their mission. Jesus meets us in the tension between “I believe” and “Help my unbelief.” Their later boldness came through acting despite uncertainty, not eliminating it.

What doubt have you let paralyze your discipleship? This week, serve someone spiritually even while wrestling with questions. Could your honest “I’m still learning” invitation be someone’s path to Christ?

“When they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted.”
(Matthew 28:17, ESV)

Prayer: Tell Jesus one specific doubt you carry. Ask for strength to obey while He resolves it.
Challenge: Share a faith struggle with one person today, ending with “Let’s seek answers together.”

Day 3: Eyes of the Heart Enlightened

Paul knelt in prison darkness, ink scratching parchment as he prayed for Ephesian believers. Not for wealth or safety, but for “eyes of the heart enlightened” – that they’d grasp the hope of their calling. He knew spiritual vision transforms earthly journeys. [32:10]

We navigate life with two sets of eyes: physical ones fixated on bills, schedules, and screens; heart-eyes that perceive eternal realities. Paul’s prayer remains urgent – our culture trains the first set daily but starves the second.

What dominates your inner vision this week? Practice the ancient examen tonight: review your day asking “Where did I glimpse eternity?” then “Where did I ignore it?”

“Having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you.”
(Ephesians 1:18, ESV)

Prayer: Pray Paul’s words slowly over three people you’ll interact with today.
Challenge: Set a 3pm alarm labeled “Heart Eyes.” Pause to assess your spiritual focus.

Day 4: Becoming More Than Not-Hitler

The War Games characters faced annihilation regretting unlived vacations. Jesus confronts our low spiritual ambitions – being “decent” compared to history’s worst. He commands, “Be perfect as your Father is perfect,” offering sainthood, not moral mediocrity. [36:06]

Perfection here means wholehearted love, not flawlessness. Just as athletes push past “not last place” to pursue gold, Christians embrace the saints’ relentless love. Each confession, prayer, and act of mercy reshapes us into Christ’s likeness.

What’s your current spiritual ceiling? “Not addicted”? “Generally kind”? Name one area Jesus might be whispering: “I made you for more.”

“You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
(Matthew 5:48, ESV)

Prayer: Confess one “good enough” area of your life. Ask for holy dissatisfaction.
Challenge: Fast from one “harmless” distraction today to create space for prayer.

Day 5: Lifted Hearts, Broken Bread

The priest elevates the host – wheat grains now Christ’s body – declaring “Lift up your hearts.” We respond “We lift them to the Lord,” joining our earthly struggles to His heavenly reign. The broken bread feeds our ascent, earthly nutrients becoming divine life. [39:17]

Every Eucharist answers “How is Jesus with us?” He ascends yet remains – not divided but multiplied in sacramental presence. We don’t cling to a departed hero but receive a living King who draws us upward through humble means.

What mundane moment today could become an ascension elevator? Washing dishes, replying emails, or waiting in traffic – can these be “lifted” through silent prayer?

“Lift up your hearts. We lift them to the Lord.”
(Roman Missal, Eucharistic Acclamation)

Prayer: Thank Jesus for three ordinary things He’s making holy in your life.
Challenge: During a routine task today, whisper “I lift this to You” as sacramental offering.

Sermon Summary

The ascension of the Lord sets the direction of a Christian life. Christ, who suffered, died, rose, and ascended, is the head; his Church is the body. Where the head has gone, the body is called to follow. The ascension is not only future; it is already shared. Christ is with his people in the sacraments, in the Scriptures, in the priesthood, in the holy Eucharist, and even in their very souls, yet he has also gone before them into heaven. That tension names a path: participation now, fulfillment then.

The Great Commission places that path under Christ’s total authority. “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” So the baptized are taught to observe everything he commanded, precisely because he remains with them “until the end of the age.” The culture around them insists only the visible matters. The Church sings a different creed: visible and invisible. A shallow story about the end will only regret not learning to swim. A Christian story asks, what is a person becoming, and where is a life headed.

Saint Paul’s prayer opens that horizon: the Father of glory gives a spirit of wisdom and revelation, enlightens the eyes of the heart, and makes known the hope of a calling. Christ did not only save from sin; Christ saved for glory. Heaven is destiny, hope, and goal, not an opiate. The cross is the ladder. So desire must be trained.

Matthew shows worship and doubt living side by side. That is not a dead end; that is the starting line of discipline. Disciples become disciplined men and women who pray, study, ask, seek, and knock. Not to earn love, but to be changed by grace. “I’m not Hitler” is not a goal. Christ commands, “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Life is a breath on a cold day. The shortness of time clarifies what counts.

The Eucharist gathers all of this into act. At the altar, the risen and ascended Christ is lifted up; a small particle mingles in the chalice, a sign of his risen body living and life-giving. “Lift up your hearts” is not a slogan; it is a share in his ascent. He has not left his people orphans. He invites them up to him. So the Church sets its heart on heaven and chooses the goals that lead there: deep prayer, reverent reading, generous mercy, beatitude-shaped character, steady repentance. That is participation now in the glory for which Christ has saved his people.

Key Takeaways

1. Ascension names life’s true direction The ascension is not a detail tacked onto Easter; it is the trajectory of redeemed life. Christ the head has gone before, and the body is summoned to follow, even now, by grace. Destiny is not vague comfort but concrete communion. Hope takes shape as disciplined desire for where he is. [25:16]
2. The culture of visible-only is thin A world that forgets God at the edge of death can only offer shallow regrets. Christian memory holds the invisible as real and decisive, so questions deepen: What is a person becoming, and toward whom is the heart moving. The end reinterprets the present, and the present trains the end. [27:48]
3. Worship can carry honest doubt Matthew shows adoration and hesitation standing together. Doubt is not permission to drift; it is a call to discipline that prays, studies, and keeps at it. God meets the struggler with light as the mind and habits are formed into discipleship. [34:52]
4. Saved not only from, but for glory Redemption is more than cancellation; it is consecration. Saint Paul prays for wisdom, revelation, and enlightened hearts so believers know the hope of their calling. Heaven becomes the measure of choices now, and the cross the ladder that fits the climb. [32:10]
5. The Eucharist lifts hearts to heaven At the altar, the risen and ascended Christ gathers his members into his offering. “Lift up your hearts” is an invitation to participate already in his ascent. He has not left his people orphans; he draws them into the life he now lives. [39:17]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[11:54] - Penitential Act and Gloria
[14:42] - Collect: Joy of the Ascension
[22:21] - Gospel: Great Commission
[23:24] - Ascension sets life’s direction
[24:26] - With you always, yet ascended
[25:16] - Head and body, heaven’s pull
[26:03] - Culture of the visible challenged
[27:48] - War Games and shallow regrets
[31:19] - Saved not just from, but for
[32:10] - Paul’s prayer: eyes enlightened
[34:07] - Worship and doubt together
[34:52] - Discipleship as disciplined love
[39:17] - Lift up hearts to the Ascended
[72:09] - Final Blessing and Mission

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Matthew 28:16-20 (ESV)
16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 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, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Ephesians 1:17-19 (ESV)
17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe...

Observation Questions

In Matthew 28:17, the disciples worship Jesus but some still doubt. What two responses do they display simultaneously, and how does Jesus respond to their uncertainty?
According to Ephesians 1:18, what does Paul pray believers will understand about their calling? How does this connect to Jesus’ statement in Matthew 28:20, “I am with you always”?
The sermon emphasizes that the Eucharist “gathers all of this into act” [39:17]. What specific actions or symbols during the Eucharist (mentioned in the transcript) reflect participation in Christ’s ascension?

Interpretation Questions

Why might Matthew intentionally include both worship and doubt in the disciples’ response to the resurrected Jesus? How does this tension relate to the sermon’s claim that “doubt is not permission to drift; it is a call to discipline” [34:52]?
The sermon contrasts a culture focused on “visible-only” goals (like learning to swim) with the “hope of a calling” in Ephesians 1:18. How does Paul’s prayer redefine what matters most about human life?
Jesus says, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18) before commissioning the disciples. How does this authority shape the purpose of their mission, rather than just enabling it?

Application Questions

The sermon asks, “What is a person becoming, and where is a life headed?” [27:48] What habits or choices in your daily life reflect a focus on temporary “visible-only” goals versus eternal ones? What small shift could you make this week to prioritize the latter?
When have you experienced both worship and doubt, like the disciples in Matthew 28:17? How might embracing spiritual discipline (prayer, study, repentance) in those moments deepen your faith rather than letting doubt paralyze you?
The Eucharist is described as an invitation to “participate already in [Christ’s] ascent” [39:17]. How could approaching Communion with intentional focus on this truth change your experience of it?
Paul prays for “enlightened hearts” to grasp our hope (Ephesians 1:18). What distractions or cultural messages most often dim your awareness of this hope? What practical step could help you “train your desire” toward heaven this month?
The sermon warns against settling for being “not Hitler” spiritually [36:06]. Where have you complacently compared yourself to others instead of pursuing holiness? What specific area of growth (e.g., patience, purity, mercy) is God calling you to address with His grace?

Sermon Clips

36s

“Far too many people think that's it. That's good enough. Right? And that is not it. And that is not good enough. God expects us to be saints, the saints that we were created to be. Jesus, in fact, says be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect. And our Christian life and discipleship, our anticipation of the ascension is not about earning God's love, rather it is about living in God, being changed by his grace, and aware of the goal and the end of our life, and aware of the shortness of life.”

50s

“That's not the opiate of the people. That is the challenge to be transformed by faith. You know, the cross are a test our destiny. Our hearts are restless until they rest in God. That's a very famous line from Saint Augustine. I've probably said it 50 times in the twelve years I've been here. Our hearts are restless until they rest in you, oh lord. Christ did not merely save us from sin. He saved us for glory. Right? We weren't just saved from, we were saved for.”

44s

“Anticipating it and participating in it. I hope when I get close to my death, if I saw death coming thirty minutes away, I would be sorry for what I had failed to become. Not that I didn't learn how to swim. What have I become in life? Where has my life been sterile or unfruitful? It is the sad fact that we humans far too often approach life and death as just about this weekend with a very superficial limited understanding of where we are and where we're going. The ascension of the Lord confronts us with a great question of our existence.”

37s

“My prayer for you today is that you think about these things as we celebrate the ascension that this is how your brain works, that you live in the culture of the church that looks forward to eternal life, that participates in a sense in eternal life even now. The church is constantly pointing us to the end and to the present. Jesus Christ has ascended not merely as God but as man. Heaven is our destiny, our hope, our goal. It's not a fantasy.”

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Our Lady of the Gulf Catholic Church This sermon · AI assistant

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