Homily Five on the Ascension of the Lord
By St. John of Kronstadt
By St. John of Kronstadt
"And the Lord, after He had spoken to them, was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God" (Mark 16:19).
The Lord has granted us, my beloved brethren, to celebrate and observe the all-saving festival of Pascha; He has deemed us worthy to await and to rejoice in His divine Ascension and to worship Him, who ascends from the earth to heaven. But let us not, my brethren, spend the Lord's festivals in idleness and in sin, but in godly thought and in the virtue characteristic of Christians; let us reflect on why the Holy Church solemnly commemorates and glorifies the wondrous and saving works of Christ, what it seeks to teach us by recounting His life, teachings, miracles, deeds, sufferings, death, resurrection, and ascension.
Now, on the feast of the Ascension of the Lord from earth to heaven, the Holy Church wishes to inspire us to more often soar in thoughts, faith, hope and love, desires, sighs from earth to heaven - there, where the Lord Jesus Christ sits at the right hand of God (Mark 16:19). If you are risen with Christ, then seek those things which are above, where Christ sits at the right hand of God. "Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth" (Col. 3:1, 2), says the Holy Apostle Paul. But what does it mean to think about things which are above, and not on things which are earthly? - Let us now reflect on this for the glory of Him Who ascended from earth to heaven and for the benefit of our souls.
What does it mean to think about things above and not about things on earth? It means to live on earth with your body, and to soar in heaven with your thoughts and heart; it means to have nothing in common with the sin that reigns in the world, or with the lust of the many-passioned flesh, with the lust of the eyes and the pride of life; to despise the pleasures of the belly and loins, to zealously "cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God" (2 Cor. 7:1), according to the words of the Holy Apostle Paul. It means with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your strength to love the Lord who loved us. Always think about Him, remember His life, His teaching, commandments, miracles, sufferings and death for us, with all your heart always be where He is, fulfill His commandments and consider their fulfillment a great happiness, according to the words of the Psalmist, who considered their observance a great reward.
To think about heavenly things means to love truth with all your heart and to be ready to endure persecution, ridicule, slander, reproach for the sake of truth - to hate lawlessness, no matter how much it may tempt us with some earthly benefits, for example, wealth, honors, pleasures.
To think about heavenly things, to philosophize about heavenly things means to always manage to love your neighbor as yourself, sincerely, truly, not according to earthly and sinful calculations of self-love, self-interest, carnal pleasure and people-pleasing, that is, not because such and such a person brings us benefit, profit and pleasure, or we like him, or our relative, friend, companion, countryman, acquaintance, comrade, peer, colleague - or a kind, intelligent, rich, cheerful, healthy, handsome person, etc., but if he is not like that, if he does not bring any benefit at all, and does not please your vanity or your corrupt taste, if he is not a relative, not a friend, and not a buddy, but a downright enemy, etc., to love solely for God, for the sake of God's commandments, for the sake of the fact that he is a man, of the same nature with you, from the same blood with you - Adam's, and even much, incomparably more, higher - from the flesh and blood of Christ: for we are members of His flesh and of His bones (Eph. 5:30). Thus, in love, one must not look at faces, but rather honor everyone equally, without servility and without being overly affectionate towards some while being haughty and disdainful towards others, or angrily reproaching and scolding others for their faults and even for their innocence, remembering that we are all equal before God, that we all share the same nature and that we all have common weaknesses, frailties, and stumbling blocks.
To think about things above or to be wise in the things above means not to cling to anything visible, earthly, as corruptible and temporary, but to cling to the heavenly, as to eternal, according to the word of the Apostle: "We look not at the visible, but at the invisible: for the visible is temporary, but the invisible is eternal" (2 Cor. 4:18); – means not to be avaricious, not to collect for oneself, but to be rich in God through good deeds; – not to attach one's heart to earthly beauty, sweetness, joy, to earthly well-being, but to the beauty, sweetness and joy of heaven and to eternal life.
To think about things above means to always walk in the presence of God, remembering that He sees and hears everything and will reward us for all our thoughts, feelings, desires, words and deeds on the day of judgment.
To think about things above means to despise so-called entertainments and games, worldly amusements, combined with sin, distracting from God and leaving only emptiness in the heart.
To think about things above means to think and reason not in the manner of this world, which thinks and reasons and acts wickedly, perversely, contrary to God, but to think, reason and act according to the mind of God, holy and pleasing to God.
To think about things above means not to seek worldly honor, glory, as vain, often unrighteous, captivating and charming thesoul, but to seek the honor of the heavenly calling, for, says the Savior, "How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another, and seek not the glory which is from the only God" (John 5:44 )?
To think about things above, finally, means to think and firmly believe that our fatherland is in heaven, to expect from thence the second glorious coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for the judgment of the living and the dead, which means, in patience to perform the labors and exploits of a wandering earthly life, in expectation of a reward from the righteous Rewarder.
This is what it means to think about heavenly things. Let us, with God's help, try to think and do as the word of God teaches us: and we will celebrate the feast of the Ascension in a God-pleasing manner. Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
