Our Citizenship Is in Heaven

Debra Black ponders the profundity of Jesus’ Ascension and its meaning to our own providential plan which our Father has set before us.  

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified body by the power that enables him also to bring all things into subjection to himself. (Philippians 3:20-21) 

In the sweet, simple hymn of Eastertide, the Regina Caeli, we sing, “He has risen, just as He said, alleluia.” It is difficult to wrap the mind around the profundity of Jesus’ Ascension and its meaning to our own providential plan which our Father has set before us. He took on our nature, yours and mine, suffered, died on the cross, was resurrected, and ascended so as to pave the way for us to Heaven. He came not to be feared, but to be loved. The whole of the Paschal Mystery, His life, death, Resurrection, and Ascension, demonstrates this.  

As the psalmist expresses, in our nature we were created to live in the house of the Lord all the days of our life (Psalm 27:4). We were created through Him, in Him, and for Him. It is in Him that we continue to exist (Colossians 1:16-17), and He has called us to join in His project of love, that of bringing others to salvation. In spite of this, it can be difficult to share our faith with others. Feeling inadequate to defend the faith leaves us tongue-tied. 

But there is a difference between defending the faith and sharing it. God has given many theologians and apologists the gifts to teach and defend our faith. While this is their calling, it may not be ours. However, it is everyone’s calling to share the faith and, if we live it, it will exude from our very being. Our own experience of receiving His love, coupled with hope for our future eternity, gives us eyes of faith to see the world with love. By our Baptism, we’ve been made holy—set apart. But to grow in His likeness, we must live His teachings. The stark contrast between the world’s perspective and God’s as we live and speak it also sets us apart.  

By the grace of God I am what I am. (1 Corinthians 15:10a) 

To walk with Him, we must walk like Him. We have been given the gift of discipleship and it is His desire that we be His instruments of conversion. We must imitate His Gospel, asking His Spirit for the desire to live it. Then we must accept our imperfections which He will one day perfect when we join Him in paradise. After all, He doesn’t want perfection, He wants love. This truth frees us to bring others to freedom in Christ. The world is suffocating in a smog of despair and self-hate masked in the cloak of ideologies that spout self-empowerment and self-worship. Only the breath of His Spirit can bring them back to life.  

Our simple hymn concludes by asking Mary “Pray for us to God, alleluia.” Mary knew how our Father loved her and she wants us to know this love too. It is she who, by her yes, brought together our fallen nature and the glory of Heaven. Let her ‘yes’  also become our own response to Him, putting aside all fear. 

It has come to fruition that  
A child born to die 
Has arisen on up high 
This child king is now 
King of all Creation. 

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Copyright 2024 Debra Black
Images: Ammodramus, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons; Canva