The Very Rev. Dr Chad Hatfield opens his sermon on the feast of Holy Ascension by calling us to recognize how unique and powerful the Orthodox view of the human body really is. The accounts of our Lord during the 40 days after His Resurrection leading up to His Ascension all involve physical actions–partaking of food, traversing a road, touching the wounds left by the nails and the spear, and finally, Christ ascending bodily up to heaven. Fr Chad encourages us to meditate on three themes in the Gospels having to do with the body: Christ our God becoming incarnate as a human with a body, inviting us to partake in His Body through our physical partaking of the Holy Eucharist, and promising the resurrection of all believers into His Heavenly Kingdom.