The Ascension of the Lord is this Thursday, May 29, 2025. This marks 40 days since Easter and the end of Jesus’ time on earth. The ascension is a very significant event in salvation history. Let’s take a look.
What is the Ascension?
The Ascension of the Lord is Jesus’s return to the Father in Heaven in divine glory. He is seated at the right hand of God. His work on earth is complete. He has commissioned the disciples to live the life He taught them, and to spread His teachings to as many people as possible. The gospel reading for the Ascension is Luke 24:46-53.
The Ascension is also about the promise of the Holy Spirit. Jesus assured his followers that the Holy Spirit would be coming to guide them. The solemnity of Pentecost is 10 days after Ascension Thursday. Jesus’s ascension provides hope to all believers that heaven exists and they will rise with Jesus if they follow His words.
Gospel Reflection
The readings for Ascension Thursday can be found here. I read an interesting anecdote that I think sums up the message of the ascension very well:
“Leonardo da Vinci had started to work on a large canvas in his studio. For a while, he worked at it – choosing the subject, planning the perspective, sketching the outline, applying the colors, with his own inimitable genius. Then suddenly he stopped working on it. Summoning one of his talented students, the master invited him to complete the work. The horrified student protested that he was both unworthy and unable to complete the great painting which his master had begun. But da Vinci silenced him. “Will not what I have done inspire you to do your best?” Jesus our Master began to spread the Good News two thousand years ago by what he said and did, and supremely by what he suffered. Jesus illustrated his message and left us to finish the picture. Will Jesus’ life not inspire us to finish the picture? This is the message of the Ascension.”
What an amazing illustration of the ascension. I am sure the apostles were horrified at the thought of Jesus leaving them. He promised them that the Holy Spirit would be with them always before he left. The apostles did not miss a beat after what had to be the initial apprehension.
The Promise of the Holy Spirit
“Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses to these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.“
The “power from on high” is the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, to be received at Pentecost. Please let me know your thoughts on the article in the “Comments” section.
Peace
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In