Bishop’s Note: Ascension Day!

Bishop Eric Menees Dear brothers and sisters, I pray that this Bishop’s Note finds you safe and well this Ascension Day! Because this is one of the principal feasts in our church calendar we’ll take a break from looking at the burial rite and talk about why we have this day in our calendar. When we look at our church calendar, not all days are created equal. The main groupings of days are principal feasts, Sundays, holy days, and commemorations. Sundays are of course the principal day of Christian worship, commemorations are days where the church remembers certain heroes of the faith, and holy days are where we remember certain biblical events and biblical figures. Principal feasts are the main feast days of the church and take precedence over everything else. The main principal feasts people are aware of are Easter and Christmas, but Ascension, Epiphany, Pentecost, All Saints, and Trinity Sunday are all principal feasts. We might not think of the Ascension as an important enough event to warrant such a big day, but it is. This is the day Jesus Christ ascended to take his seat at the right hand of the Father. Unfortunately, because the Ascension happened 40 days after the resurrection, Ascension Day always occurs on a Thursday. This has led to it not being as widely known or celebrated, but it should be. Jesus’ ascension means that we have an intercessor in heaven in a place of power. We’re not just struggling on our own with a God far away who never hears from us, we have Jesus Christ, who knows and loves us, interceding on our behalf with his Father. The Ascension led to a huge shift in our relationship with God, one that should cause us to take pause, contemplate, and give thanks, exactly why we should celebrate this day each year. I hope you all have a blessed Ascension Day!

Mark 16:9 Now when he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. 10 She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept. 11 But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it. 12 After these things he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. 13 And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them. 14 Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. 15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: bin my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” 19 So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.