Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven. Today the Church commemorates the ascension of Jesus to the Father, an event that occurred some forty days after the rising of Jesus from the dead (cf. Acts 1:3). The ascension was an event that marked a very important chapter in the life and development of the movement Jesus had founded. The death of Jesus had occasioned a major setback in the life of the disciples (cf. Luke 24:21a – ‘ our own hope had been that he would be the one to free Israel’), for with Jesus removed from within their midst, they did not know how to proceed or what to do with the movement. And while the news of Jesus’ resurrection had indeed injected some life back into the movement, normalcy was yet to return to the group (even after appearing to the disciples on several occasions, Peter and a few others, perhaps out of disillusionment, decided to go back to their old profession of catching fish [cf. John 21]).
The ascension was a turning point in the life of the disciples and their mission. Unlike the days following the death of Jesus when the disciples went into hiding out of fear, their demeanor following Jesus’ ascension was characterized by joyous praise and celebration (cf. Luke 24:50-53). It could be that their source of joy was them witnessing the spectacle of Jesus being lifted up into the heavens. And this would be true because they found themselves worshiping him even as he was being lifted up in their sight. But that was not all. It is also likely that they had finally come to fully understand the “things that had been happening in the last few days” (cf. Luke 24:18). They were filled with joyous praise because they had finally come to understand the mission of Jesus as well as their role as witnesses of the things Jesus had said and done in their midst. They had finally come to understand how the events that followed the arrest of Jesus were integral to the fulfillment of Jesus’ life and mission. Moreover, the disciples were able to understand the role they had to play in the mission of Jesus. And with this understanding, they were ready to go and preach the forgiveness of sins in Jesus’ name.
We commemorate the event of Jesus ascending back to the Father as a celebration of of our faith because in it we we see a fulfillment of God’s promises to us. “It is good for you that I go for only then will I be able to draw all of you to myself,” said Jesus to his disciples (cf. John 12:32; 16:7). Jesus’ ascending back to the Father was not a loss to his followers. Rather, it was a gain for them (and for the entire created universe) because it brought to full circle the salvific mission that had been the ministry of Jesus. Men and women, the brothers and sisters of Jesus, were now ready to achieve their full potential by enjoying the fullness of life that was God’s gift to them at creation. Because of the preaching of Jesus, men and women now had the opportunity to live in obedience of the Word of God. The preaching of Jesus had served to open the hearts and minds of his brothers and sisters so that unlike their first parents in the garden of Eden, they could now recognize the voice of their Creator God.   
The ascension fulfills the plans that God has had for creation since the beginning. The main reason for Jesus’ “descent” when he assumed the flesh is to bring humanity back to God’s salvific plan. God had intended creation to enjoy eternal life at the side of God (cf. John 3:16). Although distorted by the sin of man, this plan of God has now been restored in Jesus Christ (for Jesus was to ascend back to the Father only after he had “righted” every wrong). Eternal life is fully attained when humanity is reunited with God in Jesus Christ (cf. I John 5:11ff), for it is only the one who came down from heaven who can ascend to heaven (cf. John 3:13). Jesus promised us a place in his Father’s house (cf. John 14:2), a promise that the ascension makes possible: “I am going to make a place for you, so that where I am, you too may be” (cf. John 14:3). In the ascension, we see God opening for humanity access to a life with God. As members of Christ’s body, the ascension gives us confidence that we too shall go where Christ, our head, has preceded us (cf. CCC, 661).