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The Ascension of the Lord is Thursday, May 13th, 2021. - A Holy Day of Obligation
What does the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord celebrate?
Forty days after Jesus’ Glorious Resurrection on Easter Sunday, our Lord Jesus ascended Body and Soul into heaven (Luke 24: 50-53; Acts of the Apostles 1:9-11).
The Catechism of the Catholic Church (paragraph 665-667) states, “Christ’s Ascension marks the definitive entrance of Jesus’ humanity into God’s heavenly domain, whence he will come again (cf. Acts 1:11); this humanity in the meantime hides him from the eyes of men (cf. Col 3:3).
Jesus Christ, the head of the Church, precedes us into the Father's glorious kingdom so that we, the mebers his Body, may live in the hope of one day being wih him for ever.
Jesus Christ, having entered the sanctuary of heaven once and for all, intercedes constantly for us as the mediator who assures us of the permanent outpouring of the Holy Spirit.”
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"...you will receive power when the holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." When he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight.
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Before ascending in the presence of His Apostles, Jesus commissioned them to continue His ministry of redemption, by saying
Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
Matthew 28: 18-20
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When is the Ascension of the Lord celebrated?
The Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord is traditionally celebrated on Ascension Thursday, the fortieth day after Easter. Many places in the world – including most of the dioceses in the United States – transfer the solemnity to the following Sunday.
Ascension Thursday is May 13th this year and is celebrated in the Diocese of Worcester on this day. On Wednesday, May 12th at 6:30 PM, we will have a Vigil Mass to celebrate the Solemnity of the Ascension, a Holy Day of Obligation according to the Precepts of the Church.
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“Today our Lord Jesus Christ ascended into Heaven; let our hearts ascend with Him.”
-Saint Augustine
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Readings of the Mass
SELECT HERE for the Audio recording of the Readings of May 13th, 2020, The Ascension of the Lord.
SELECT HERE for the Readings of May 13th, 2021, The Ascension of the Lord.
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What happened at the Ascension of Jesus?
The Catechism of the Catholic Church (paragraphs 659-660) states,“So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.” Christ’s body was glorified at the moment of his Resurrection, as proved by the new and supernatural properties it subsequently and permanently enjoys. But during the forty days when he eats and drinks familiarly with his disciples and teaches them about the kingdom, his glory remains veiled under the appearance of ordinary humanity. Jesus’ final apparition ends with the irreversible entry of his humanity into divine glory, symbolized by the cloud and by heaven, where he is seated from that time forward at God’s right hand. Only in a wholly exceptional and unique way would Jesus show himself to Paul “as to one untimely born,” in a last apparition that established him as an apostle.
The veiled character of the glory of the Risen One during this time is intimated in his mysterious words to Mary Magdalene: “I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” This indicates a difference in manifestation between the glory of the risen Christ and that of the Christ exalted to the Father’s right hand, a transition marked by the historical and transcendent event of the Ascension.
Who has ascended to Heaven?
Only Christ has ascended to Heaven. In the Gospel of Saint John, Jesus told Nicodemus, ”No one has ascended into Heaven but he who descended from Heaven, the Son of man” (John 3:13).
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How many times did Jesus ascend to Heaven?
Jesus ascended into Heaven one time, which was forty days after His Resurrection.
Who was present and where?
The Ascension took place in broad daylight on the Mount of Olives, in the presence of His Apostles and disciples.
What’s the difference between Ascension and Assumption?
The Ascension of Christ took place by His own power. The Glorification of Mary’s Body and her Assumption was not, but was the decision and act of God.
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