On April 12, 1961, Yuri Garagin, a Soviet cosmonaut, became the first human being to journey into “outer space.”  A rocket took him away from the earth which he orbited once before safely returning.  Later, Nikita Khrushchev , the leader of the Soviet Union, speaking to the Central Committee of the Communist Party, said: “Why should you clutch at God? Here is Gagarin who flew to space but saw no God there.”

Really?!  When the Acts of the Apostles 1: 9 says that Jesus “was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight,” does that mean the Son of God can be found somewhere beyond the clouds, orbiting the earth?   No.  The Ascension of Jesus is something beyond our human experience just as the Resurrection is.  Jesus did not enter the “heavens” of space but Heaven itself.  He is beyond time and space.

In the Apostles’ Creed, which we pray at the beginning of the Rosary, we say that we believe in “the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting.”  And in the Nicene Creed, which we recite on Sundays and Solemnities, we say “I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.”  Where is this “life everlasting” in the “world to come”?  Heaven.

The Church teaches that “This perfect life with the Most Holy Trinity—this communion of life and love with the Trinity, with the virgin Mary, the angels and all the blessed—is called ‘heaven.’ Heaven is the ultimate end and fulfillment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme, definitive happiness. … This mystery of blessed communion with God and all who are in Christ is beyond all understanding and description” (Catechism #1024 and 1027).  Or as St. Paul put it, “no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2: 9).

Having ascended, Jesus is not “out there in space” but in Heaven. He is not on another planet or in another universe but in a state beyond our wildest imaginings.  When it comes to Heaven, you cannot out imagine God.  At the Last Supper Jesus promised the apostles that He was “going to prepare a place for” them and for us (John 14: 3).  With His resurrection and ascension, Jesus blazed a trail for us to follow.  Let’s all stay on that trail!