The Ascension: Christ, risen and glorified, reigning in heaven, and through the Holy Spirit dwelling within us.

Br. Geoffrey Tristram, SSJE.

This Ascension Sunday worship service is a wonderful celebration of hope.  And it is a day of encouragement.  A day to lift up our hearts, to rejoice – the Lord is King.

We are called to be stewards of hope: not a shallow optimism, but true Christian hope which is expressed not just in words, but by a life lived in deep communion with the one who is the source of hope.  The Letter to the Ephesians says, “As you come to know him, may the eyes of your heart be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you.” (1:17)

It is through prayer that we come to know him, through prayer that we come to know more profoundly in our hearts what is the hope to which we have been called.  In prayer, as our Collect puts it, we too ascend in heart and mind, and with him continually dwell.

And maybe an occasion to pledge that in the days ahead we will endeavor to be stewards of hope – that we will so live our lives and so pray our lives, that others will know what is the hope to which we have been called.  That however difficult or daunting our journey may be, we will continually lift up our eyes, and look to the glory.