https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/052123-Ascension.cfm
and
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/052123-Sunday.cfm
I quote:
May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a Spirit of wisdom and revelation
end quote
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:
“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” (No. 659).
The mysteries of life are not always as transparent as we would wish them to be. Yet, here we are invited to embrace the ascension of Jesus into higher consciousness, sitting at the side of Our Father. The Ascension is the final chapter of the mysteries of Jesus’ life, passion, death and resurrection leading to the Holy Spirit's visitation at Pentecost.
Jesus' final words addressed to the Apostles:
“But 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” (Acts 1:8).
In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus' concluding direction is very similar:
“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” (28:19-20)
Over a mug of cocoa this evening our village inn keeper invited me to explain to him the use of Biblical language asking the reader to believe that Jesus ascended into the sky. I replied that The Divine Mystery attempts to explain life's mysteries through the understandings of those who witnessed the event. Not being present at that mysterious event I can not offer any further explanation.
I shall offer a post later today on the influence of the mysterious, or numinous event on the perception of those who witness such phenomena, drawn from my own experiences.
end
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