Berkeley, May 6, 2026 2:02 am
Feast: 40 days after Easter Sunday. Therefore it always will fall on a Thursday. This year the feast is on May 14.
It is a liturgical feast. This year is we are on liturgical calendar A. [See 1]
But on this day. It is also the feast on Saint Matthias.
Day 1. May 6. I am surprised that it is already more than 30 days from Easter. As I learn more about the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord. I will start with the lectionary for May 14, and for Sunday May 17. I will start with gospel readings, then the whole readings from those days. Then I can look a bit more into the historical facts, and its significance. OK. I will only focus on May 14. On the solemnity itself.
The readings for May 14 are from Lectionary 58, year A. Acts 1:1-11, Psalm 47, Ephesians 1:17-23; and Matthew 28:16-20
It is so interesting that the Lord said to the eleven disciples to go to Galilee to a mountain that the Lord has ordered to them. Which mountain was it? He told to them to “behold”, he is with them “always, until the end of age”.
The Lord asked them to “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” and to teach “them to observe all that I have commanded you.”
Before that, but it also makes sense to say this in this order. The Lord said this because “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” So he, therefore, can command the disciples the capacity to do a baptism in the name of the Holy Trinity and to teach to observe.
Day 2. May 7. 1:26 pm This is brief because somehow I am running out of time. I see that the Ascension of the Lord is explained in the first part of the book Acts of the Apostles, 1, 1-11. I will elaborate more on that, but who Theophilus, was?
Day 3. May 7. 11:35 pm. The daily travel takes quite a bit of a toll. I did a sort of lectio divina from Acts of the Apostles 1, 1-11. The Lord [I got distracted checking results from the Premier League, Arsenal, Man City, and from the Ligue 1, PSG. Earlier I got distracted by checking Copa Libertadores results.] The Lord asked to the disciples to stay in Jerusalem. They will be baptized by the Holy Spirit. I did not got that well of who asked them why were gazing to the stars in the sky. Then, those two, in white garments, who should be angels, said the Lord will come back in the same way that he ascended. I am not checking notes for any of these. Also, the Lord said to the disciples, is a sort of is not your business, or better, is not for you to know about time.
Day 4. May 9. 2:42 pm. Generous day. Even a good employee from Safeway helped me quite a bit. There are those days. Ascension: “The entry of Jesus’ humanity into divine glory in God’s heavenly domain, forty days after his Resurrection (659, 665)” [6 pp. 867]
It is part of both Creeds I believe. I will read article 6, (659, 659 ref 1). I skimmed the first part. After the Lord resurrection, he ate with the apostles, which is extraordinary. He talked to them. Finally after 40 days, the Lord ascended into heaven. He entered His Divine stage. He sits at the right hand of the Father.
Day 5. May 10. 2:42 pm Give plenty to receive. But who knows what was the source of distraction(?). I gave some time to a friend. I ate too much though. I love this feast because it is on the scriptures 40 days after resurrection. And also resurrection happened during passover which is on the first full noon sunday after the equinox of spring or now march 21. I now I have been into a lot of infrastructure recently. I do not want to lose sight of the natural rhythms of life.
Day 6. May 11. 3:27 am The feast of the ascension has been referenced by Saint John Chrysostom and Saint Augustine, but probably Saint Gregory of Nyssa was the one who influenced the propagation of the feast. [1]
Also in [1] is the breakdown of Mt 28-20. Well, I start quoting the eleven. This was 40 days after the resurrection of the Lord. Those eleven folks were probably still healing the wounds from Judas. Even though it was an imperfect community, it was to this “specific and real Community that” the Lord “Jesus entrusted the task of becoming witnesses of his Gospel, of his proposal of love.” [1]
Day 7. May 12. 1:25 am Jesus “was taken up”. “It places emphasis that it was an action of God.” [1] I will transcribe below two of the prayers. Making small progress in the next following days. I will also add a few words.
Day 8. May 13. 1:24 am. “Church on the move. We do not await the last day idly, nor do we close ourselves in our own homes. But, as” the Lord “Jesus reminds us, we wait the last day dedicated to a mission that reaches the ends of the earth.” “You will receive the power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses… to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:7 ff) [1]
Day 9. May 14. 2:01 am “We are fortified by Jesus’ promise “And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Mt. 28:19), where Jesus is our God, God-with-us” (See Ex 3:12)…
Prayer(s)
Lord Jesus,
You who in your ascension
filled the Eleven with joy,
make us worthy of that same joy through your prayer and your mercy.
Lord Jesus,
You who in your ascension bore our fragile humanity into heaven
and opened for us the way that leads to Heaven,
fill us with the joy of serenity and peace.
Lord Jesus,
You who by ascending into heaven
clothed us with the gift of the Holy Spirit,
make us your witnesses in our daily lives
telling of the joy of your Mercy.
(Prayer by Father Andre Vena)
[1]
References
[1] https://www.vaticannews.va/en/liturgical-holidays/solemnity-of-the-ascension-of-the-lord.html
[2] https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/051426-Ascension
[3] https://www.vatican.va/content/catechism/en/part_one/section_two/chapter_two/article_6.index.html
[4] Acts 1:11
[5] Col 3:3
[6] Catechism of the Catholic Church. I will add details later, but it is the green book.
[7] https://ignatiancamino.com/camino-australia-mackillop-woods-way/the-jesus-trail/
[8] https://jesustrail.com/sites/cana/
[9] https://jesustrail.com/about-the-jesus-trail/our-philosophy/
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