Today is the feast of Jesus’ ascension into heaven. For most Catholics in the United States, this feast is transferred to Sunday. The dioceses of Boston, Hartford, New York, Newark, Omaha, and Philadelphia have retained the feast on its traditional day, Thursday, and celebrated it then.

The feast of the ascension takes place ten days before Pentecost; this duration of time takes on a special anticipation of the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The story of Jesus’ ascension is told in the Acts of the Apostles (1:9-11). After the resurrection, Jesus appeared to his followers during the ensuing 40 days and prepared them to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. He commissions his followers to spread the good news to the ends of the earth, and promises his Spirit as a helper and advocate.

After this promise, “he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight” (Acts 1:9). His followers are left behind, looking up at where he went, and then two figures appear and say, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.”

Jesus’ ascension reminds us of our own destiny. Jesus came and joined our human condition, and was resurrected and ascended into heaven, so this pathway is now open to us. The feast today reveals to us our destiny as followers of Jesus: eternal life in union with God. We remember what happened to Jesus 2,000 years ago so that today we might have hope that sustains us in our Christian journey of discipleship.

The ascension scene above is depicted in this stained glass window from the Basilica. It appears below another window that contains a personification of hope because Jesus’ ascension is the best illustration of our own eternal destiny. Notice the distress on the faces of the disciples left behind, including the mother laying down her child. We wait, in hope, for the exaltation into heaven of our own bodies and of those we love, and we ask for the Spirit to assist us in our faithfulness as we await that day.
Our virtual pilgrimage to the Holy Land presents images and a report from the Chapel of the Ascension in Jerusalem, built over the place where Jesus is believed to have left the earth and ascended to heaven—more on this page.

On this feast of the Ascension of our Lord, let us have hope in our own exaltation and persevere in discipleship!