Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord

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.

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