Day 5
The Ascension
He goes so that the Spirit can come
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Grace to ask for
Lord, let me trust Your presence in the Spirit even when I cannot see You.
""But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.""
John 16:7
Composition of Place
Stand on the hillside with the disciples, watching. He is speaking, blessing, and then — ascending. The cloud receives him. The disciples stand looking up until the angels redirect them: "Why do you stand looking into the sky?"
Points for Meditation
It is for your good
Jesus tells his disciples that his departure is better for them than his continued presence. This seems impossible. But the presence of the Spirit — who can be anywhere, who is not limited by a physical body in a specific location — is a greater gift than the physical presence of Jesus in Palestine. The Ascension is not an ending; it is an expansion.
"To the ends of the earth"
Before the Ascension: "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." The scope of the mission is total. It includes wherever you are standing right now.
Stop looking up
"Why do you stand here looking into the sky?" The angels redirect the disciples downward, outward — back to the city, back to the world, back to each other. The interior life is not an end in itself. The Exercises are not a destination. They are a preparation for looking at the world with the eyes the Exercises have been forming.
Colloquy
Ask for the faith to trust the presence of Christ in the Spirit — available, intimate, not limited by distance or circumstance. Ask for the courage to come down from the mountain and re-enter the world you live in, carrying what you have received.
Remain in silence for a few minutes.
Do not rush to the next exercise.