Thank you all for making my first birthday, here, at St. Andrew very memorable. It is a wonder to think about how this parish was established in 1894 and a hundred years later its newest Pastor was born. Time.

As we celebrate this Sunday, the Ascension of Our Lord Jesus in Heaven, my reflection will hearken a bit back to Mother’s Day. As I reflected in my homily last week, there is a particular aspect of God’s Love that Mothers naturally communicate to their children: one that reaches the depth of one’s soul and brings warmth. This would not be just my own musing into seeing God’s Love as communicated through a Mother’s heart. No, we come across this language within the original Hebrew of Sacred Scripture, particularly in the Psalms. When the Psalms speak of God’s mercy there is one specific Hebrew word חסד, chesed, which is often translated into our English word as mercy. However, there is another word that is always paired with this one, and that is רחמים, rachamim. For example, Psalm 40:11, “You, O LORD, will not withhold Your compassion (rachamim) from me; Your steadfast love (chesed) and Your truth will continually preserve me”. More examples of this pairing can be found through the Psalms (Ps 25:6; 51:1; 103:4; 103:13; 145: 8-9).

First, let us look at the meaning of the word chesed. It can certainly mean “mercy”, simply translated, but it has more to its connotation. It can be translated more literally as “covenantal loyalty”. This translation carries God’s faithful and enduring love toward the Israelites. Through Abraham the Hebrew people enter into a covenant with God.

Second, the word rachamim means “tender mercy”. It comes from the Hebrew root word rechem which means “womb”, carrying with it the connotation of deep, nurturing, almost maternal compassion.

Thus, what we see unfold before us in the revelation of God through the Sacred Scriptures is this two-fold complementary dimension of God’s mercy. There is the one side that is covenant-minded, adhering to what the covenant demands, i.e. loyalty no matter what. This is an aspect of God’s mercy. Then, the second dimension: compassion. The former pertains to the mind, the latter to the heart. Mercy is found in faithful action and as inner emotion. Now, the fulfillment of God’s mercy is found in the Crucifixion. Astoundingly, in the self-offering of the Son of God, Our Lord Jesus shows chesed in fulfilling what is demanded of the old covenant for the forgiveness of sins, i.e., His death. Second, what pours forth from the Sacred Heart of Jesus, rachamim, tender mercy, which is given to us as the nurturing Most Holy Eucharist.

Growing up, I was educated in a Jesuit High School. Of the many things Jesuit High Schools were known for was their insistence on "classical education." At the time, that meant learning Latin and Greek and reading the stories of the Roman and Greek gods and goddesses. 

I was not unaware that some thought this to be blasphemous. "How could one receive a Catholic education if you were studying these pagan things?" Not only did I hear that statement outside my school, but inside my school as well. The Jesuits would intentionally bring up the question so that it could be answered directly. 

And the answer that we were given, and I believe to be true, is that these studies help to develop the imagination which is a necessary part of forming the developing mind. Strengthening one's imagination readied the intellect for the religious imagination which is how we better contemplate God. The mythologies of Rome and Greece were seen as stepping stones towards understanding the broader possibility of the Triune God revealed by Jesus. 

Another important part of my Jesuit education was learning to see into the worldviews of others. We were taught to imagine what the barriers, expanses, and limitations of people's realities and how different cultures and different periods of history would see things from their own point of view. 

Together... the ability to fathom the great possibilities of gods and the ability to understand the worldviews of other cultures, times, and places are skills that I treasure, particularly when we celebrate the Feast of the Ascension. Because on the surface, it's a bit confusing. Where did Jesus go? We (the United States) just sent the rocket ship Artemis 2 up on a trip around the moon. Along the journey, they didn't bump into Jesus flying around in the sky, or at least there were no reports of such a sighting. 

So what does it mean that Jesus ascended into heaven? Where is he now? Did he bypass the moon and head to Mars? Is he somewhere in orbit? Did he leave the solar system?

The questions become preposterous because the questions apply our knowledge of the cosmos today and not to the times, places and cultures that lacked the knowledge we possess. To get at the meaning of the Ascension, we have to enter into the worldview of the Jewish people in the year 33 AD. They thought the sky and the heavens were the "beyond." They also saw the heavens as the place of perfection where God controlled the movements of the sun, the moon, and stars along a bowl that was placed in the sky, not a sphere we can send satellites to orbit providing our cars with GPS navigation. 

For the direct followers of Jesus, in order to ascend into heaven, it meant he was part of God's perfect planning. It also mirrored other contemporary stories of demi-gods who were placed in the constellations of the stars by the gods for their heroic deeds. Now, I'm not suggesting that the event didn't happen, but for us to speak about the Ascension, we have to get down to what the event meant in the worldview of the Jewish people of 33 AD. 

And it's where our own imagination and our storytelling today comes into play. In our own time, what are the equivalent expressions of entering the "beyond," even if they are fictitious? 

Personally, I look to the superhero movies and science fiction movies of our day to ponder similar ideas of a person entering the "beyond." I think of stories where characters enter extra dimensions or rifts in time/space. I think of stories of magical portals, multiverses, and wormholes. I think of stories where characters enter or exit cybernetic space as they do in movies like The Matrix or Tron. 

And to be clear, I'm not suggesting that the Feast of the Ascension in anyway suggests that Jesus entered into the Matrix. What I am positing is that these fictional stories give our imaginations the acumen that bolsters our religious imagination, in much the same way that studying the Roman and Greek gods did for students of "classical education."  

The stories we see in movies, particular the ones of a supernatural nature, help us to envision what must have happened to Jesus forty days after his Resurrection. He left this world in a glorious manner and entered into the "beyond." Wherever and whatever that is. Not literally in the sky, but what the sky represents. 

And to our ancestors in faith, this meant that Jesus continued to be mysteriously present to them, just as Jesus continues to be present to us today. Understanding the "how" may be beyond our comprehension, but we have been given the gift of our imaginations and this allows us some insight, however small in comparison, into the mysteries of God. 

Storytime

Infants and toddlers, join our FREE Storytime in Saint Andrew School! This is a fun and creative space to share stories, build imagination, and discover the joy of reading. The next time is May 19th at 8:30 am in the school. Hope to see you there!

Summer Camp 2026

We are thrilled to offer summer options for our families.

• We will hold our traditional summer camps for registered Saint Andrew students during the first two weeks of the summer break. Registration is open! 

• Saint Andrew Summer Adventure Camp will be offered for the majority of the remaining summer weeks. Adventure Camp Registration for SA students, their friends, and neighbors in the community is open. 

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