This past Sunday, we celebrated the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord. Traditionally, we have celebrated the Ascension on Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter. In fact, the Archdiocese of Newark was one of only five arch/dioceses to still do so. However, last year, the Solemnity was moved to the Seventh Sunday of Easter, the last Sunday before Pentecost Sunday. It was moved so the Solemnity would be more prominently celebrated. Nonetheless, the Ascension is understood to take place the fortieth day after Jesus’ Resurrection when he ascended into heaven. It is the day that Jesus ascended to heaven after his passion, death, and resurrection. During these forty days, Jesus appeared to his disciples, preparing them for the sending of the Holy Spirit. The number forty (40) in the Scriptures is associated with a period of transformation, much like the 40 days of Lent: Lent the “transformation” to Easter and these 40 days after the Resurrection the “transformation” to Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit would come and empower the great commission of Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel.
When I was ordained on May 30, 1992, it was that Scripture passage I selected for the back of my Ordination prayer card:
Full authority has been given to me
both in heaven and on earth;
go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations
Baptize them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.’
Teach them to carry out everything I have commanded you.
And know that I am with you always, until the end of the world.”
Matthew 28: 18-20
It was also the passage on the back of the prayer card marking my 30th Anniversary that we celebrated here at Saint Helen last year. It is a passage that inspires me, and I hope will inspire you.
God bless you all,
Msgr. Tom
