The Ascended Christ Still Suffers

Our Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven; let our hearts ascend with him. Christ is now exalted above the heavens but he still suffers on earth all the pain that we, the members of his body, have to bear. He showed this when he cried out from above: “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” and when he said: “I was hungry and you gave me food.” [Jesus says] I have ascended to heaven, but I still remain on earth; here I sit at the right hand of the Father, but there I still hunger, thirst, and am a stranger. I am the Head; my Body still lies beneath. Where does it lie? Throughout the whole earth. Be careful that you do not strike it, that you do not hurt it, that you do not trample upon it.

—Augustine, Sermon for the Lords Ascension; Treatise 10 on 1 John 9