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Ascension of the Lord
From the Vatican's John Paul II FoundationForty days after the Resurrection, Jesus ascended into heaven. He leaves the earth in order to that the Holy Spirit might descend.As the solemnity (remember, the most important type of feast day) of the Ascension of the Lord falls 40 days after Easter, and the date of Easter changes from year to year, the date of the Ascension changes from year to year. Forty Days after the Resurrection is a Thursday, which technically places it on May 29th this year. However, beginning in the 1990s in many parts of the world, bishops gave dioceses the ability to move the liturgical observance to the following Sunday (June 1 this year) including our Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana.Ways to Celebrate on May 29 or June 1 (or both!):- Have a picnic and spend time looking up at the sky pondering what it would have been like to see Jesus ascend to heaven and what it will be like to see Him return the same way
- Eat some kind of fowl or bird ... This is a traditional way to celebrate that Jesus "flew" to heaven
- Eat fluffy foods (meringue, marshmallows, cotton candy, etc) to remind of the cloud that took Jesus out of sight
- Ascend (climb) a mountain
- Start the Novena to the Holy Spirit today in preparation for Pentecost on June 8