Feast of the Ascension

Next Sunday we celebrate the Feast of the Ascension.  Wait.  What?  Next Sunday?  Isn’t the feast celebrated on a Thursday, 40 days after Easter?  Yes it is.  But in many dioceses, including the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, the feast is celebrated the following Sunday.  Our bishop has done so to give more of the faithful the opportunity to celebrate this great feast. 

                 

Why celebrate the Ascension at all?  Well, just as we celebrate the birth of Jesus at Christmas, and his Resurrection at Easter, we celebrate the day he returned to Heaven knowing he will come again in the fullness of time.

Christ made His last appearance on earth, forty days after His Resurrection from the dead. The Acts of the Apostles states that the disciples were in Jerusalem. Jesus appeared before them and commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the "Promise of the Father." He stated, "You shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now" (Acts 1:5).

After Jesus gave these instructions, He led the disciples to the Mount of Olives. Here, He commissioned them to be His witnesses "in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth" (Acts 1:8). It is also at this time that the disciples were directed by Christ to "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19). Jesus also told them that He would be with them always, "even to the end of the world" (Matthew 28:20).

The Ascension celebrates the vindication and victory of Christ. No doubt, the high priest, Caiaphas, King Herod and Pontius Pilate, thought that they were very important and powerful people. Yet these religious and political leaders are only remembered today because they arrogantly dismissed Christ Jesus. They didn’t recognize that they were condemning to death the Creator, the Giver of life.  They didn’t know that the man they judged would one day judge them.

As St. Augustine (ȯ-ˈgəs-tən) says that by celebrating this feast devoutly, virtuously, faithfully, and piously, we ascend with our Lord and have our hearts above. "For the Resurrection of the Lord is our hope, and His Ascension our glorification."