He came down to earth without leaving the Father's presence, he ascended into Heaven without leaving us orphans.
Their Lordships movement of this Great Feast of the Ascension from the 40th to the 43rd day after Easter, has helped to focus our attention on this day itself.
Today is Thursday, the 5th day; Holy Thursday is the day of the Lord's institution of the Holy Eucharist. For us Catholics the Eucharist is His abiding Presence: This is My Body, This is My Blood. It is not absence but Presence.
That round of meals he had with his disciple and friends is replaced for the discples by this new anamensis of His death and resurrection. His Body and Blood will remain in His church until He comes again.
Today, Thursday, we remember His Ascension, the discples witness, "His being taken up", "his going from them", and yet they return to Jerusalem not sad but "rejoicing".
Why do they rejoice? Because his going is not about his departure but his being with them, "remember. I am with you always, yes, even to the consumation of the ages". Now, wherever they are, he is with them. They become His Body in the world, the Ascension is about Presence not absence.
Today Thursday, is the day of two "Presences". His Eucharist Presence, as the Body of Christ within the Community of Faith for the Church and His Ecclessial Presence as the (Mystical) Body of Christ within the world.
Is it coincidental or are we supposed to connect these two Thursdays, the Eucharist and Ascension?
4 comments:
In order to have a snowball, you must have three things:
1). Cold
2). White
3). Snow
Without either of these, you cannot have a snowball.
Without a Priest, you cannot have the Blessed Sacrament.
Without Christ having been crucified, you cannot have the Blessed Sacrament.
Without God's love for us, you cannot have the Blessed Sacrament.
Take away any of these, and we are completely lost.
Keep looking for the 'Eucharist' and a 'Eucharistic Minister' to put it in your hands.
As for me and my family, we shall kneel before the Blessed Sacrament and receive Him on the tongue.
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This painting by Jan Van Eyck -the Lamb of God Who takes away the sins iof the world- is a refutation to Gnostics . It reminds us that Christ did Die
He rose again and ascended into heaven and He is coming back.
As the Bob Dylan wrote in his Christian phase in the song WHEN HE RETURNS
"Of every earthly plan that be known to man, He is unconcerned
He’s got plans of His own to set up His throne
When He returns" so take heed Enda Kennedy,David cameron,Obamna and Jukia Gillard and all of us sinners-we are on notice
Father, when was Christ glorified; was it at His Resurrection or His Ascension?
I would have thought that the fact that our Lordships have moved the celebration of the Ascension from Thursday to Sunday gives the feast less emphasis than it deserves.Surely a feast of such importance should have its own special day.Forty days after Easter falls on a Thursday not Sunday.
I like the link between the two Thursdays and let us not forget that other great feast of Corpus Christi which falls on the Thursday after the Sunday of the Most Holy Trinity.( unfortunately again transferred to the following Sunday).Is there a link between the Trinity and these three great Thursdays?
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