“Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is.” — 1 John 3:2
The Old Pots of Fulton Sheen
Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen once gave a homily in which he compared human lives to old pots. Not beautiful, not refined, just common clay jars—cracked, chipped, imperfect. But he added, “The only difference is that some of us are filled with dirty water and others with the wine of Cana.”
Sheen’s image is compelling because it reminds us of two truths: our unworthiness and God’s willingness. We are fragile vessels, but we were made to be filled with glory. That glory comes not from within ourselves, but from seeing and knowing the One who fills us—Jesus Christ.
The Ascension: A New Perspective
Forty days after His resurrection, Jesus ascended into heaven. As His followers watched in awe, “a cloud took Him out of their sight” (Acts 1:9). What a time those last forty days must have been for the Apostles. After being with Him for three years, they had finally beheld the Lord as He truly was, in all His Divine glory! How terribly difficult it must have been for Christ to hide His Divinity when He took on the human form! In a different talk, Bishop Sheen, speaking on the Transfiguration, said,
“I wonder if that was not His (Jesus’) natural state. Divinity shining through a human nature was bound to radiate effulgence so that it would seem He almost had to restrain this inner beauty from pouring out through the veil of His flesh.”
It seems funny to think of Our Lord, Himself, hiding His light under a bushel basket, but this is what it must have been like. Otherwise, why was it only at the Transfiguration that Peter, James, and John were able to see His Divinity fully? Before this Peter had acknowledged Jesus as the Christ on faith alone. None of them had beheld Christ as He truly was. Now, after the Resurrection the disciples are all able to echo Thomas’ words, “My Lord and My God,” for the old pot has been shattered and the light is now pouring through. Jesus, no longer constrained by the burdens of human form, communes with His chosen band, sharing Himself, unfettered and fully alive.
Going Home To Prepare YOUR Place
Yet now the Lord tells His brethren that He must take leave of them. A popular song from years ago said, “the trouble with hello is goodbye,” and so it must have been for the disciples. Just at the moment when their hope had been restored and they were fully committed to the mission, Jesus is taken up into Heaven, returning to the Father in glory. They had walked with Jesus in His humanity, but now they were left with a deeper call: to trust in the One they could no longer see with their eyes, but could still know with their hearts.
Jesus didn’t vanish into a vague spiritual realm, though; He entered heaven as the resurrected, glorified Son of God. He is reigning now, and one day He will return—not hidden in clouds but revealed in glory. It will be at this moment, then, when we too shall see Jesus, just as His disciples beheld Him after the resurrection. At this moment, the incredible will happen, as 1 John 3:2 says, we will be like Him because we will see Him as He is.
Seeing Jesus as He Really Is
What does it mean to see Jesus as He really is? Not as a teacher, prophet, or healer. Not even as a crucified Savior, but as the risen and reigning Lord. Glorified. Radiant. Full of mercy and majesty.
- We will see Jesus in His true glory: Not as a suffering servant, but as the reigning King. No more shadows, no more glimpses—we will see Him face-to-face.
- We will be transformed by that vision: “We shall be like Him.” Just seeing Him will change us forever. We will be made fully new, finally whole.
And John says that this sight will transform us: “We shall be like Him.” The vision of Christ doesn’t just inform—it transforms. The cracks in our old pots will be sealed with gold. The brokenness will be made whole. The water will turn to wine. Ascension Day reminds us that Jesus’ visible presence is not lost—it’s waiting. We don’t live in absence but in anticipation. The cloud that lifted Him will someday reveal Him.
Living in the In-Between
Between Ascension and His return, we live in the “not yet.” The vision is coming, but for now, we see in part. Like old pots, we still bear our flaws. But through the Spirit, Jesus is pouring His life into us now. We are children of God now, John says, even though the fullness of that identity is still on the horizon.
So how do we live in this in-between world, as people who have not yet seen but still believe?
- We pursue purity: “Everyone who thus hopes in Him purifies himself” (1 John 3:3). The hope of seeing Jesus changes how we live today.
- We seek His face: Through prayer, Scripture, and sacrament, we tune our hearts to behold the invisible God.
- We become vessels: Like Sheen’s pots, we were made to be filled. Let your life hold the presence of Christ for others to taste and see.
The Vision that Transforms
On Ascension Day, we look up. Not in grief, but in hope. Jesus has gone before us to prepare a place. And He will return. And when He does, we will see Him—finally, fully, gloriously.
For now, we wait. We serve, we pray, we love. But we do so with eyes lifted. The Ascension doesn’t end the story—it propels it forward. The cloud is just a curtain!
Jesus will return. And when He does, we will finally see Him—not just as He was, or as we imagined, but as He really is. And in that moment, everything will change. We’ll be home, we’ll be whole, we’ll be like Him.
Until then, don’t despise your old pot. Don’t fret over the cracks. Instead, let the wine of Christ fill you. And hold on to the promise: We shall see Him as He is.
And when we do, we won’t just see—we’ll be changed forever.
Happy Ascension Day. Keep your eyes up.
Come, Lord Jesus.
