Today we celebrate the Feast of the Ascension of The Lord, the time when Jesus is taken back up to heaven after spending some period of time on earth after His resurrection (Luke says it is 40 days). Luke also makes it clear that Jesus has to return to the Father so that the Holy Spirit can come upon the apostles, an event that we will celebrate as the FEast of Pentacost. But why-- why does Jesus have to leave the earth? Why can't the Holy Spirit come even if Jesus is still here? OK, these questions are way beyond the pay grade of anyone on earth, but we can still ask them, and think about what answers might make sense. God gave us brains, after all. So, imagine what would have happened if Jesus had really stayed. He was already being asked when He was going to restore the kingdom of Israel. The longer He stayed around, the more those questions would arise. Jesus had deflected those questions before He was crucified, but would He have been able to deflect them now? And who would need-- or even pay attention to-- the Holy Spirit if Jesus was alive in the flesh (a resurrected body to be sure, but still the appearance of a regular body, as Thomas found out)? Jesus was a walking, living, breathing miracle-- who would have needed anything more? What need would there have been for faith, or for the power of God, or for "the promise of the Father," as Jesus puts it, under those circumstances? Perhaps Jesus leaves so that we, as mature adults with God-given free will, can make a choice. We can accept the Holy Spirit, follow its promptings, be energized by its presence, receive God's grace and choose to believe in the Gospel. Or not. But it is that choice, that relationship, that faith that Jesus desires, and He has to let us make the right choice on our own. Let's not forget, of ourse, that Jesus did not really leave us. Yes, His resurrected body is not here in human form, but He is still present in the Eucharist. So we rejoice as did Jesus' followers at the Ascension, knowing that Jesus is both gone and not gone. One of the classic "both/and" aspects of our Christian faith.