Saint Augustine on the Ascension of the Lord

Today our Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven; let our hearts ascend with him. Listen to the words of the Apostle: “If you have risen with Christ, set your hearts on the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Seek the things that are above, not the things that are on earth.”

For just as he remained with us even after his Ascension, so we too are already in heaven with him, though what is promised to us has not yet been fulfilled in our bodies.

Christ is now exalted above the heavens, yet he still suffers on earth in all the pain that we, the members of his body, must bear. He revealed this when he cried out from above, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” and when he said, “I was hungry and you gave me food.”

Why, then, do we on earth not strive even now to find rest with him in heaven, through the faith, hope, and love that unite us to him?

While he is in heaven, he is also with us; and while we are on earth, we are with him. He is here with us by his divinity, his power, and his love. We cannot be in heaven, as he is on earth, in the same divine manner; yet in him, we can be there by love.

He did not leave heaven when he came down to us, nor did he withdraw from us when he ascended again into heaven. That he was already in heaven even while he was on earth is confirmed by his own words: “No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven.”

These words are explained by our unity with Christ: he is our head, and we are his body. No one ascended into heaven except Christ, because we too are in Christ. He is the Son of Man through his union with us, and we, through our union with him, are sons of God.

So the Apostle says: “Just as the human body, which has many members, is a unity, because all the different members form one body, so it is with Christ.” He too has many members, yet remains one body.

Out of compassion for us, he descended from heaven; and although he ascended alone, we also ascend, because we are in him by grace. Thus, no one but Christ descended and no one but Christ ascended—not because there is no distinction between the head and the body, but because the body, as a unity, cannot be separated from the head.