Today Ascension Thursday

Today is the feast of the Ascension of Jesus Christ, whether we celebrate it today or not. And today we think about our Lord's entrance into heaven. And what is heaven? Let's think with Monsignor Ronald Knox:
"Try as we will, the idea of heaven eludes us. Are we to think of it as a place, from which every element of unhappiness is excluded? But we know how much our love of places is conditioned by moods and sentiments, by the desire for change, by associations and by history! Or are we to think of it as a state? But then, how are we to think of a state except in terms of selfish enjoyment? Or should we look forward to being reunited with those we have loved? But how frail they are, these earthly bonds; how time impairs them! No, when we have tried everything, we shall find no better window on eternity than St. Paul's formula, 'to depart and be with Christ.' If he has left us, and gone to heaven, it is so that we may no longer be disconcerted by the barrier of cloud that stands between us and it. We are not concerned to 'go' here or there, to be in this or that state of existence. We want to find him"
That's it; that's it! "To depart and be with Christ." That's the only thing that makes sense. And keeping in mind the poetic words of yesterday's great saint, we may fear that the way be dark, that we will go it alone, that it be an unknown region, that there be the presence of the King and that there be the judgment of the Judge. We may reasonably fear these things. But we have a great high priest who is not incapable of feeling for us in our humiliations; he has been through every trial, fashioned as we are, only sinless. (Heb. 4:15, Knox version). So we need not fear death, remembering His humanness in His Ascension; and our own trials may seem less bitter to us because He once shared them and we know that He remembers.