In the Garden of Olives began the "dispossession" of Jesus Christ, so to speak: in Him, God "hid" his divinity (actually kept "veiled" since his birth). He wanted to give his life in this way, although everyone expected another kind of "triumph"...

But now -in all fairness- Jesus-resurrected "recovers" his divine prerogatives: that is the Ascension! His place is, above all, Heaven: the whole Christ is "ascended" there, with his Body resurrected (and marked forever with the wounds of passion, as signs of his love for men). (Read more: «I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth»).

Here it is a new reason for hope! The Ascension of the Lord is our ascension! Earth never had been so close to Heaven! For Holy Mary, this mystery of glory was a joy but it also meant a new renunciation ... Again "she stayed on the ground" (never better said!).

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1st) «Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God» (Jn 20:17). Wonderful words of Jesus-Resurrected to Mary Magdalene. Henceforth we can’t "retain him" but "have him" (more than ever): his Father is our Father (divine filiation), we can eat him (Eucharist) and he is the one who will "have" us (for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit). God is with us, but not as before... «In Christ ascended into Heaven, the human being has entered into intimacy with God in a new and unheard-of way; man henceforth finds room in God for ever» (Benedict XVI) (Read more: «After speaking to them, the Lord Jesus was taken up into heaven and took his place at the right hand of God»).

2nd) «As he blessed them he parted from them and was taken up to heaven» (Lk 24:51). If the disciples could see him "ascending" it is because they saw him physically. It is the whole Christ who is “assumed” in the heavenly glory. Expressed in a radical way: it is the first time that a human body enters Heaven. This is our path! By knowing these mysteries Christians are of course privileged (Read more: Since his Ascension, Christ is accessible and close from the Father).

3rd) «He was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight» (Acts 1:9). The cloud that hid him means that Jesus Christ is "assumed" (received) in heaven and exalted at the right hand of God-Father. That is part of the paschal cycle: passion-death-resurrection-ascension-glorification (recognition of merit and manifestation of hidden glory). If we do not see him it is not because he is not here, but because he lives in a state superior to ours: Heaven! The house of the Father!

4th) «And then returned to Jerusalem with great joy» (Lk 24:52). A paradox !: they stop seeing him and they are very happy ... The fact is that, when they stopped seeing him, they did not have the feeling that Jesus was going far away. It is - rather - quite the opposite, for Jesus Christ sends them to the mission and accompanies them on this mission: «Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature» (Mk 16:15) and «I am with you always, until the end of the age» (Mt 28:20). A reality that also reaches us: he sends us and accompanies us!

5th) «All these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer, together (…) with Mary the mother of Jesus» (Acts 1:14). Throughout her life, Mary had to "say goodbye" to her Son on several occasions (when he left home, when he gave his life on the Cross...). This time with joy but also with nostalgia (that we try to compensate with our affection towards our Mother), since She has stayed to accompany the first steps of the nascent Church of Jesus (Read more: Mission of the Church after the Ascension).