Our Real Ode to Joy

Lk 24, 46-53:  The account of the ascension: Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.

St John Chrysostom says. “The cloud was a sure sign that Jesus had already entered heaven; it was not a whirlwind or a chariot of fire, as in the case of the prophet Elijah (cf. 2 Kings 2:11), but a cloud, which was a symbol of heaven itself.

Jesus is in heaven, as our mediator, he is hidden from view, but is active and present as our saviour. This must bring us joy, to sing with Beethoven who was deaf when he composed his Ninth Symphony (1824) using the Ode to Joy, written by his friend Friedrich Schiller.

A meditation preached by Fr. Eric Nicolai on May 29, 2022, solemnity of the Ascension.

Music: Ludwig Beethoven - Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 - IV. Presto - Allegro Assai from European archive in Museopen.org.