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Dear Sisters and Brothers in
the Lord:
Some years ago we celebrated
the Ascension of the Lord on a Thursday, forty days after Easter Sunday.
It has since been moved in Archdiocese and throughout the State of
Illinois to the 7th Sunday of Easter. In marking the
ascension on the fortieth day of the Easter season, the church took
literally Luke’s account of events in Acts 1:3. Liturgical history
indicates that the Lord’s ascension and the giving of the Holy Spirit
were originally celebrated together on the solemnity of Pentecost. It
was not until the end of the fourth century that the Ascension became a
separate feast from Pentecost.
Celebrating the Ascension on a
Sunday of Eastertide helps give this solemnity its rightful orientation.
The Ascension is neither a farewell nor a time of sadness at Jesus’
departure from this world. The earlier practice of extinguishing the
paschal candle on this day is therefore quite inappropriate. Like every
Christian festival, the Ascension celebrates the on-going presence of
the risen Christ in our midst.
As always the readings and
prayers of the Mass help establish the focus of this special day. The
first reading is from the Acts of the Apostles. Just as Jesus travelled
to Jerusalem to his passion and death, so the Church will take the Good
News out to the world, beginning in Jerusalem and reaching to the ends
of the earth. The Gospel reading from Mark reassures the followers of
Christ that, although Jesus is no longer physically present, he is with
them even to the end of time.
The Preface of the Ascension I
provide gives a rich insight into the meaning of the feast:
CHRIST THE MEDIATOR BETWEEN
GOD AND THE HUMAN RACE, JUDGE OF THE WORLD AND LORD OF ALL, HAS PASSED
BEYOND OUR SIGHT, NOT TO ABANDON US BUT TO BE OUR HOPE. CHRIST IS THE
BEGINNING, THE HEAD OF THE CHURCH; WHERE HE HAS GONE, WE HOPE TO FOLLOW.
What we celebrate is not just
a past event or the hope of our own glorious future destiny but the life
we share now with the risen Lord through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Let’s give our minds and
hearts to the Lord this Easter Season! Father Joe
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