“Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up to heaven. And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.”

The Ascension of Jesus is a mystery of both departure and presence, of absence and fulfillment. It is the culmination of Christ’s earthly mission, yet also the inauguration of a new and hidden way of being among us. From the vantage point of Carmelite spirituality, this moment speaks to the soul’s interior journey—seeking God not outside but in the depths of one’s own being, in silence and in the fire of contemplative love.

Jesus, in ascending to the Father, does not leave us orphaned. Rather, He opens the path for each soul to ascend interiorly with Him, into the very heart of the Trinity. The disciples’ response—worship, joy, and a return to Jerusalem—mirrors the dynamic of contemplative life: adoration, inner joy, and mission.

For Blessed Francisco Palau y Quer, the mystery of Christ and the Church are inseparable. He wrote:

“I looked for love, and love appeared to me under two forms: God and neighbor.”

In the Ascension, Christ returns to the Father, but as Palau taught, He remains mystically present in His Beloved—the Church, in both her visible and invisible dimensions. The Church is not merely a structure, but the mystical body in which Christ lives and through which He is encountered. For Palau, to contemplate the Church was to contemplate Christ Himself.

From this, we understand that Christ ascends not to remove Himself from us, but to make Himself available in a more profound way—in the Eucharist, in the poor, in the Church, and in the silent solitude of the heart.

In the Carmelite tradition, especially as lived by the likes of St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross, the soul must journey inward to ascend spiritually. This “ascent” mirrors Christ’s physical ascension: a detachment from earthly things, a purification of the senses, and a burning desire to be united with the Beloved. Palau, deeply Carmelite in heart and mission, invites us to this same mystical ascent—not as escape, but as engagement with the Church and the world in love.

Points for Prayer and Reflection:

  • Where is Christ inviting you to ascend today? Not by leaving your reality, but by going deeper into it, with eyes of faith.

  • How do you respond to His seeming absence? Is it an invitation to seek His hidden presence with greater fervor?

  • Are you, like Blessed Francisco Palau, discovering Christ in the Church, in your neighbor, in your own soul?

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, as You ascended to the Father, You drew all creation into Your risen life.
Help me to follow You—not only outwardly, but inwardly,
ascending in love and detachment,
burning with zeal for Your Body, the Church.
Through the wisdom of Blessed Francisco Palau,
teach me to see You in all things and to love You in all Your manifestations.
May my heart become a Bethany—
a place of blessing, departure, and divine encounter. Amen.