{"id":6543,"date":"2014-06-14T16:30:15","date_gmt":"2014-06-14T15:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/?p=6543"},"modified":"2015-12-18T17:36:43","modified_gmt":"2015-12-18T17:36:43","slug":"the-ascension-of-the-lord-01-06-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/?p=6543","title":{"rendered":"The Ascension of the Lord (01.06.14)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Ascension of the Lord (01.06.14)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Historical Continuance v Contemporary Convenience\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

For Catholics, with long memories, calling a Sunday \u2018Ascension Day\u2019 jars! Historically, the Church has celebrated Ascension Day on a Thursday. Has the living of our faith become a matter of convenience winning-out over commitment? A second question is \u2018does convenience open the door to compromise, and could unchecked compromise lead to detachment?\u2019<\/p>\n

The Ascension of Jesus is professed in the\u00a0Nicene Creed<\/a>\u00a0and in the\u00a0Apostles’ Creed<\/a>. The Ascension celebrates Jesus’ humanity being taken into\u00a0Heaven<\/a>\u00a0and, therefore, the potential for us to enter Heaven too by virtue of our Baptismal adoption.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Catechism of the Catholic Church<\/a>\u00a0(Item 668) states:
\n“Christ’s Ascension into heaven signifies his participation, in his humanity, in God’s power and authority.”<\/p>\n

Referring to\u00a0Mark 16:19<\/a>\u00a0–\u00a0“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\u201d<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 the recently canonized Pope St. John Paul II stated that Scripture positions the significance of the Ascension in two statements: “Jesus gave instructions, and then Jesus took his place. St. John Paul II also separately emphasized that Jesus had foretold of his Ascension several times in the Gospels, e.g.\u00a0John 16:10<\/a>\u00a0at the\u00a0Last Supper<\/a>:\u00a0“I go to the Father, and you will see me no more”<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0John 20:17<\/a>\u00a0after his resurrection he tells\u00a0Mary Magdalene<\/a>:\u00a0“I have not yet ascended to the Father; go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God”.<\/em><\/p>\n

Pope St. John Paul ll\u2019s emphasis on The Ascension of the Lord is built on to earlier testimony. The Feast of the Ascension, celebrated on the 40th day of Easter (traditionally a Thursday), is one of the chief feasts of the Christian year and dates back at least to the later 4th century. The Ascension is one of the five major milestones in the gospel narrative of the life of\u00a0Jesus<\/a>, the others being His\u00a0Baptism<\/a>,\u00a0Transfiguration<\/a>,\u00a0Crucifixion<\/a>\u00a0andResurrection<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In 2014, on Sunday 1st<\/sup>. June, Catholics in England and Wales will celebrate \u2018Ascension Day\u2019. Many UK Catholics still remember making that extra and often difficult effort to attend Mass on an \u2018Ascension Thursday\u2019 despite work and home commitments! Observance of the \u2018Holy Day\u2019 was a form of religious self-identification. Catholic schools started an hour later than usual, some employers allowed Catholic staff extra time off in the midday period to go to a \u2018lunchtime\u2019 Mass and churches had evening Masses for those whose only opportunity was \u2018after work\u2019. \u00a0Sadly, there was also the Church teaching, at the time, that missing Mass, without a reason, was a mortal sin. Deliberately missing Mass may be sinful as an offence against God and our brothers and sisters in the Eucharistic Communion. The question of it being a mortal sin is for another time.<\/p>\n

Has moving \u2018Holy Days\u2019 to a Sunday benefitted the Eucharistic Community? It would appear not! Generally, in matters of faith and practice, when there\u2019s a challenge involved it must surely make believers stop and think what value they place on their faith. None of the Martyrs of England and Wales, our forebears in faith whose self-sacrifice enables us to be Catholic Christians today, went through their suffering and death without a significant pause for thought and prayer.<\/p>\n

A not irrelevant question for us on Ascension \u2018Sunday\u2019 might be, \u2018Does our daily life as Catholic Christians in England and Wales today sufficiently identify our allegiance to Jesus and to our Eucharistic Community?\u2019<\/p>\n

When the Risen Lord ascended to His Father and our Father he carried upon his human body his, still open, wounds. Thomas was invited by the Risen Christ to put his finger into the holes the nails had made and his hand into the pierced and still open side of the Lord (John 20:27) These scars of rejection, torment and excruciating death, each endured to make atonement for humanity\u2019s weakness, remain open and will do so until the last sin is atoned for which will signal the end of time as we know it, the end of the world.<\/p>\n

Perhaps Ascension \u2018Sunday\u2019 is a suitable moment when I might face the challenge. What evidence of struggle and effort, of valued and suffered-for faith will I carry to my heavenly Father when he calls me? That said, bodily wounds count for little if they fail to reflect a heartfelt love for Jesus and a soul aflame with the Holy Spirit, which will never happen without a lifetime battle with the power of Evil.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a particular \u2018ascension\u2019 (small \u2018a\u2019) for each of us when we breathe our last. There\u2019s a general \u2018ascension\u2019 for all humanity when God calls the world to account. There are saints who advise us to live each day as if it were our last here on earth. That\u2019s a good staring point to prepare for our \u2018ascension\u2019 \u2013 even if we are late starting!
\n\u201cFrom everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0(Luke 12:48)<\/p>\n

The difference between the Lord\u2019s first disciples and us is the history of Church \u2013 some 2000 plus years. The claim \u201cI couldn\u2019t have known\u201d might be valid for the first disciples, it would not seem valid for us.<\/p>\n

This Sunday the Acts of the Apostles, 1: 1-11 (1st. Reading), gives us a descriptive account of the event as recorded by St. Luke. While Matthew\u2019s Gospel (28: 16-20) recalls Jesus\u2019 parting words.<\/p>\n

St. Peter led by example after the Lord\u2019s Ascension. This extract from his First Letter advises of the struggle each Baptised person faces:<\/p>\n

\u2018Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ\u2019s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory, which is the Spirit of God, is resting on you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, a criminal, or even as a mischief-maker. Yet if any of you suffers as a Christian, do not consider it a disgrace, but glorify God because you bear this name. For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God; if it begins with us, what will be the end for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And
\n\u201cIf it is hard for the righteous to be saved,
\nwhat will become of the ungodly and the sinners?\u201d<\/p>\n

Therefore, let those suffering in accordance with God\u2019s will entrust themselves to a faithful Creator, while continuing to do good.\u2019 (4: 12-19)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Ascension of the Lord (01.06.14) Historical Continuance v Contemporary Convenience\u00a0 For Catholics, with long memories, calling a Sunday \u2018Ascension Day\u2019 jars! Historically, the Church has celebrated Ascension Day on a Thursday. Has the living of our faith become a … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-feast-day"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6543"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6543\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6544,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6543\/revisions\/6544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}