11 May 1986
Rome, Italy

My dear Confreres,

When the first Russian astronaut had gone into space and had successfully returned to earth, he said: "I have been out in space and I found nothing there. God is not there. So that proves that there is no God."

We are a little amused at the naivety and at the crudity of the theology, but it does at least make you wonder if the Russian atheists have been reading the account of Our Lord's Ascension into heaven, or even some of the psalms. The psalmist always speaks of God living above the clouds and of walking on the wings of the wind. To an atheist, the first words of reply could very well be a phrase from the first reading: "Men of Galilee, why stand you looking into heaven?" (Acts 1:11).

We do not expect to meet God in space, because, as Jesus said, "God is spirit." (Jn 4: 24). When we meet a person in the street or in a room, he stands there before us to see. Within him there are several sanctuaries into which he can admit those whom he wills. A man and woman in love admit each other into sanctuaries which they keep closed to all others. The experience of admitting others into the sanctuaries of one's heart can be enriching, all the more if the persons are warm, loving persons. However intimately two human persons love each other, they can never succeed in penetrating into the ultimate sanctuary of the human heart. It was Cardinal Newman who said that the nearest star is closer to us than the heart of the person dearest to us.

The mystery of the Ascension is that not just a spirit, but a human body has been received into the innermost sanctuary of that Spirit whom we call God. The human soul and the human body of Christ is living in "light inaccessible" (1 Tim 6:16) in the innermost sanctuary of the Godhead. It is from that innermost sanctuary of the Godhead that Jesus Christ keeps coming back to humanity on earth. How else can we explain His words: "I go away and I am coming to you."? (Jn 14:28). Jesus Christ with His humanity lives in the innermost sanctuary of the Godhead, or, as the formula of the Creed expresses it, "He is sitting at the right hand of the Father." He is coming to us all the time. He is radioactive, not dangerously so, but lovingly so. We may well ask: if a tiny particle of matter, such as an atom, can be made to release incalculable energy into the world, what energy must be capable of being released into the human heart by the experience of one Holy Communion or one meeting with Jesus Christ in the Sacrament of Penance? Unfortunately, we in our blindness keep putting up protective shields against the radiating heat of Christ in His sacraments and in His Word, and so, as St. Paul remarks, "Many are weak and ill." (1 Cor 11:30).

What is Jesus Christ doing now that He has ascended into Heaven? Two activities come to mind immediately: interceding and sending. The author of the letter to the Hebrews assures us that Jesus Christ, now that He has gone beyond the veil, is "always living to make intercession for us" (Heb 7:25) with the Father. The Christian is invited to participate in that activity at Baptism. A priest is plunged more deeply into that mystery by Christ's intercession when he is ordained. It is that fact which underpins the theology of a priest's duty.

Besides interceding, Jesus Christ is engaged in a work of sending. Ceaselessly He is sending the Holy Spirit so that we will not feel as orphans in this vast universe. The challenge for us is to have the antennae of our minds and hearts sensitive enough to receive the signals that the Spirit of Jesus is transmitting. That sensitivity is created by purity of heart.

"Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven?" (Acts 1:11). We, like the men of Galilee, keep looking for the spectacular. The fact is, however, that everything in life, sin alone excepted, is grace, for "God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing of heaven in Christ." (Eph 1:3). Everything is grace, because Jesus Christ, Who is now sitting at the right hand of the Father, has already through His Incarnation blessed and consecrated every human experience that is not sinful.