Ascension Day
Today is Ascension Day. We remember that the risen Christ is taken into heaven after appearing to his followers for forty days (Acts 1:1-11, Mk 16:19). The Ascension marks the conclusion of Jesus' post-resurrection appearances. It is the final elevation of his human nature to divine glory and the near presence of God.Grant, we pray, Almighty God, that as we believe your
only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ to have ascended into heaven, so we may
also in heart and mind there ascend, and with him continually dwell; who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Acts 1:1-11
In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus
did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven,
after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had
chosen. After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many
convincing proofs, appearing to them over the course of forty days and speaking
about the kingdom of God. While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave
Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. ‘This’, he said,
‘is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be
baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’