Jesus Christ has gone up

This is not the homily I said today but rather just a few words of praise. For a kind of homily, see this post from 2023.

Today we celebrate the feast of the Ascension, which is one of the most important days in the Church year. We celebrate the completion of Christ’s sacrifice. Not only did He sacrifice Himself through His passion, death, and resurrection, but also through His rising upwards, like the smoke from the burnt offering. First, the incarnate Logos descended, from the Father, and lastly, as a completion of this act, He ascended, returned to God the Father, not just as God but as the God-man. And because of this, St Paul says in Ephesians 2:6, we are seated in “heavenly places.” In Christ, humanity has been lifted up, glorified, sanctified, deified.

Let us pray, with the BCP collect:

    GRANT, we beseech thee, Almighty God, that
    like as we do believe thy only-begotten Son
    our Lord Jesus Christ to have ascended into
    the heavens; so we may also in heart and
    mind thither ascend, and with him
    continually dwell, who liveth and reigneth
    with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God,
    world without end. Amen.

To mark this day, I will now sing a Norwegian hymn, written by Hans Thomissøn in 1569. The melody is a Norwegian folk tune from Valdres, and the arrangement is by Edvard Grieg. It can be found in the Church of Norway hymn book, no. 216.¹ But before I sing it, allow me to provide my own English translation (which does not capture the poetry of the original text):

    1 Jesus Christ has gone up
    above alle choirs of angels,
    entered heaven,
    and then took the prison captive.
    Kyrie eleison.

    2 From His Father He sent out
    to us the Holy Spirit,
    who enlightens and illumines us
    and constantly consoles us.
    Kyrie eleison.

    3 We now praise your ascension
    with angelic joy and song,
    your praise we sing
    with heart, mouth, and tongue.
    Kyrie eleison.

1. Norsk Salmebok (Stavanger: Eide forlag, 2013).