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Ascension of the Lord

1st Reading

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2nd Reading

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Gospel Reading

Gospel

Ascension of the Lord

God the Son Returns to the Father

God reveals His divine plan for humanity in the two Testaments, and that is why we read and relive the events of salvation history contained in the Old and New Testaments in the Church’s Liturgy. The Catechism teaches that the Liturgy reveals the unfolding mystery of God’s plan as we read the Old Testament in light of the New and the New Testament in light of the Old (CCC 1094-1095).

The Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord is a Holy Day of Obligation that requires the faithful to attend Mass, according to the precepts of the Church. However, some dioceses move the observance to the next Sunday. It is the oldest yearly festival of the Church in addition to the celebration of the Lord’s Resurrection. The fortieth day after Easter Sunday commemorates the Ascension of Jesus Christ into Heaven (Mk 16:19; Lk 24:50-51 and Acts 1:1-12). In Eastern Rite churches, it is the analepsis, “the taking up,” and also the episozomene, “the salvation,” a term indicating that by ascending to His glory, Jesus completed His work of our redemption. Western Rite Catholics use the terms ascension and sometimes ascensa, signifying that Jesus Christ arose to take His place in the heavenly Kingdom by His own power. Scripture identifies the Mount of Olives, a hill on the eastern side of Jerusalem, as the site where Jesus ascended into Heaven.

Traditionally, the solemnity falls on a Thursday, forty days from Jesus’ Resurrection as the ancients counted without the concept of a zero place-value, with Resurrection Sunday as day #1. The Ascension is one of the Ecumenical feasts, ranking with the feasts of the Resurrection and Pentecost among the most solemn in the Church’s liturgical calendar. In addition to the day Mass, the Feast of the Ascension also has a vigil Mass. Since the fifteenth century, there is an octave set apart for a novena of preparation for the Feast of Pentecost, according to the directions of Pope Leo XIII.

Michal E Hunt, Copyright © 2014; revised 2023 Agape Bible Study; used with permission

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1st Reading

Reception of the Holy Spirit 

Acts 8:5-8, 14-17

In the First Reading, we hear about the forty days Jesus taught His Church, giving instructions to the Apostles and disciples after His Resurrection on Easter Sunday before He ascended to the Father (Acts 1:3). Celebrating one last dinner with His disciples, He instructed them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for their baptism by the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4-5). On the fortieth day from His Resurrection, standing on the Mount of Olives, Jesus gave His disciples their mission as the firstfruits of the New Covenant Church. He told them: “you will receive the power of the Holy Spirit which will come on you, and then you will be my witnesses not only in Jerusalem but throughout Judaea and Samaria, and indeed to the earth’s remotest end” (Acts 1:8).  The disciples saw the Lord ascending into Heaven in a cloud, witnessing what the Prophet Daniel described in Daniel 7:13. Then, the disciples returned to the Upper Room in Jerusalem and continued together in prayer. One hundred and twenty of the faithful of the New Covenant people of God prayed for nine days with the Virgin Mary (Acts 1:12-15). They prayed in one accord in preparation for the promised coming of God the Holy Spirit to fill and indwell the community of the faithful and to give the Church the continuing Divine Presence of Christ.

Michal E Hunt, Copyright © 2014; revised 2023 Agape Bible Study; used with permission

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Michal E Hunt, Copyright © 2014; revised 2023 Agape Bible Study; used with permission

2nd Reading

The Glorification of the Christ

Ephesians 1:17-23

St. Paul feels moved to give thanksgiving and prayer as he contemplates how wonderful it is to know God’s goodness. He asks God to give this gift to the readers of his letter (verses 17-19).  His petition for this blessing hinges on Jesus Christ through whom God has revealed His power by giving God the Son dominion over all the earth (verse 20-21) and establishing Him as the Head of the Body of the Church (verses 22-23; also see Rom 12:4f; 1 Cor 12:12ff).  

The God St. Paul petitions is “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ” (verse 1). By using this phrase, Paul is referring to God the Father who revealed Himself to humanity through Jesus Christ and to whom Jesus Himself, as a man, prays and asks for assistance (Lk 22:42). It is to Jesus that God has given all power and authority over every age of humanity. God the Father has made the Son the Head of the Church, whose members are His Body and to whom He has promised a share in His glory.

Michal E Hunt, Copyright © 2014; revised 2023 Agape Bible Study; used with permission

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Gospel

Commissioning of the Apostles

Matthew 28:16-20 

Jesus will teach the Church for forty days before His Ascension to the Father (Acts 1:3), appearing and disappearing at will. During the time between His Resurrection and Ascension, He continually visited with His Apostles and disciples:

  • He appeared to the group of women disciples who went to His tomb on Resurrection Sunday (Mt 28:9-10).
  • He spoke to Mary Magdalene on Resurrection Sunday (Mk 16:9-11; Jn 20:11-18).
  • Jesus revealed Himself to the two Emmaus disciples (Cleopas and another) on Resurrection Sunday (Mk 16:12-13; Lk 24:13-32).
  • He appeared to ten of the Apostles (all except Judas Iscariot and Thomas) in the Upper Room on Resurrection Sunday (Lk 24:34-45; Jn 20:19-23).
  • He privately revealed Himself to Simon-Peter [Kephas] (Lk 24:34; 1 Cor 15:5).
  • Jesus appeared to the eleven Apostles eight days later (as the ancients counted), on the next Sunday after His Resurrection (Mk 16:14-18; Jn 20:24-29).
  • In the Galilee, He appeared to the Apostles on a mountain and at the seashore (Mt 28:16-20; Jn 21:1-23).
  • He had a private meeting with His kinsman James, who became the first Christian Bishop of Jerusalem (1 Cor 15:6).
  • He appeared to more than 500 disciples at once (1 Cor 15:7).
  • Jesus met one final time with the Apostles and disciples on the Mt. of Olives, from where He ascended to the Father (Mk 16:19; Lk 24:50-53; Acts 1:6-12).

In His death and glorious Resurrection, Jesus ushered in a new and eternal covenant (Heb 13:20) that fulfilled and surpassed all previous covenants (see the chart “Yahweh’s Eight Covenants“).

Old CovenantsFulfilled in Christ
1. The covenant with AdamJesus is the “new Adam” who has atoned for the sin of the first Adam. He conquered sin and death and brought forth His Bride, the Church, from His pierced side just as Eve was born from the side of Adam (Rom 5:14-21; 1 Cor 15:20-45; CCC 359, 411, 504, 766).
2. The covenant with NoahJesus’ gift of the Sacrament of Baptism has restored man, through water and the Spirit, to renewed life (Jn 3:3, 5; 1 Pt 3:21, CCC 628, 1094).
3. The three-fold Abrahamic covenant:a kingdomnumerous descendantsa worldwide blessing.Jesus has fulfilled the three promises made to Abraham (CCC 59, 706, 762-66):
1. He has established a kingdom in the Church—the Kingdom of Heaven on earth (Mt 4:17; Acts 1:3).
2. He has filled His Kingdom with men and women of every Age who have accepted His gift of eternal salvation and who are the spiritual children of Abraham (Rom 9:6-8; Gal 3:29).
3. As Abraham’s descendant, Jesus has brought a worldwide blessing through His universal covenant that is open to men and women of all nations (Gal 3:8).
4. The Covenant at SinaiJesus fulfilled all the blood rituals and purification rituals of the old Law in His one perfect sacrifice on the altar of the Cross. He made atonement for the sins of man and offering continual purification through the Eucharist and the other Sacraments of His Church (Heb 9:15-28; CCC 577-582). In His self-sacrifice and fulfillment of the Sinai Covenant, Jesus has freed God’s people from the curse of failing to keep the old Law (Dt 28:15; Rom 3:21-26; Gal 3:13-14).
5. The Aaronic Covenant of a ministerial priesthoodJesus has established the New Covenant priesthood: A universal priesthood of all believers and a ministerial priesthood no longer based on heredity but the call of the Holy Spirit (Mt 28:19-20; CCC 1141-43).
6. The Perpetual Priesthood of PhinehasJesus Christ is the eternal High Priest of the New and Everlasting Covenant (Heb 4:14-15; 8:1-3; CCC 1137).
7. The Davidic CovenantJesus fulfills God’s promise to David that his throne would endure forever. Jesus is the heir of David, the covenant mediator, and the kingly High Priest of the Universal Church (Lk 1:32-33; Heb 1:1-4; 8:1-6; 9:11, 15; CCC 786, 2105).
Michal E. Hunt Copyright © 2012

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Michal E Hunt, Copyright © 2014; revised 2023 Agape Bible Study; used with permission

PDF Commentaries

Ascension of the Lord

Kieran J. O’Mahony, OSA

SOURCE: Hearers of the Word

Fr. George Corrigan, OFM

SOURCE: Sacred Heart Church

St. Charles Borromeo

SOURCES USED include  The Jerome Biblical Commentary, The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, and The Navarre Bible, Church History by Laux (TAN Books), Introduction to the Bible by Laux (TAN Books), A Guide to the Bible by Fuentes (Four Courts Press), and Sharing Our Biblical Story by Russell for background information. Quotations from The Faith of the Early Fathers (3 volumes) by Jergens and Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (many volumes) edited by Odum.

SOURCE: St. Charles Borromeo Bible Study