Next Thursday, May 14, we celebrate the Feast of the Ascension. The Book of Common Prayer lists The Ascension in the category of “Principal Feasts,” which puts it on the same level as Easter Day, Christmas Day, and Pentecost, but it’s very nearly a forgotten feast across much of the Church. That’s probably because it always falls on a Thursday, and let’s face it – that’s not a day most people associate with going to church. Timing aside, we also don’t know quite what to make of the Ascension; it seems to be a celebration of Jesus just floating up into the air and disappearing, leaving his disciples bewildered and on their own. Why is that something we would celebrate?
It’s a good question, but here are some others that might offer a better way to contemplate this feast. How does the Ascension fit into God’s plan of salvation? Why is it important for Jesus to return to heaven if he came down from Heaven for our sake? Wouldn’t it have been better (or at least easier) for us if he had stayed? In our Lenten series we looked at the movements of Holy Week and asked similar questions of them. Here is a link to the readings for Ascension Day. I invite you to pray with these readings and these questions, as we did during Lent, and see what God might be saying to us.
On Ascension Day, we’ll gather AT 6:00 p.m. for Eucharist and then move into the Parish Hall for a potluck supper. While there’s no official “program” that evening, at the end of the meal, we can take a few moments to reflect on and discuss what we’ve heard God saying. Maybe we’ll have answers, or we might just find more questions. Either way, Jesus will be present with us – at the altar, at our tables, and in our conversations – and that is always reason enough to celebrate.