Category Archives: Ascension

from my Creed book.As I have been reminding you, this is my last week writing at Patheos. As of Monday, June 1, I will be firing up my new blog full time over at Stumbling Toward Heaven. Be sure to click the link and bookmark it because thats where youll find me after this week! This week, I am finishing my tenure here at Catholic and Enjoying It with a three part series that comes from my book-in-progress on the Creed. This the last part of that series, wherein we are discussing the Ascension (since the Church is celebrating that this week in preparation for Pentecost).

Seated at the Right Hand of the Father

Two thousand years of Christian culture has kneaded into the western mind the idea that Heaven is something like a civil right. Dying and going to Heaven is a phrase taken most especially for granted by almost everybody who shares some connection to American religious tradition. But the New Testament has something startling to say to us on this point: namely, that we have no natural right to Heaven. To be sure, God desires us to be with him for eternity (which is what Heaven means, not a place with pearly gates and streets of gold as in popular imagination). As Paul puts it, God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4). But, of course, mere creatures, much less fallen ones like us, can no more bridge the gap between themselves and their Creator than Hamlet can suddenly show up at Shakespeares front door demanding tea and cakes. That is why Jesus says, No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man (John 3:13). His point is that only in joining human nature to his divine nature can human nature hope to participate in the life of the Blessed Trinity. His point is not that he offers some technique or theory or school of mystic philosophy to make us able to pull ourselves up to Heaven by our bootstraps. It is that he himself is the way to Heaven:

[Y]ou know the way where I am going. Thomas said to him, Lord, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way? Jesus said to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me. (John 14:4-6)

So in the Ascension, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:9-11). But this too is done for our sake because Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father, not to revel in narcissistic egoism, but as our pioneer. The Ascension is a divine act of trail-blazing so that this prayer may one day be fulfilled:

Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to behold my glory which you have given me in your love for me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world has not known you, but I have known you; and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them. (John 17:24-26)

Jesus: Hidden King and Great High Priest

The pattern of weaning from earthly expectation of kingship culminates in Jesus inaugurating his kingdom, not in Jerusalem as David didwhere moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal (Matthew 6:19)but in Heaven. This too fulfils the Scripture and the great vision vouchsafed to Daniel, centuries before, of the kingdom given to the coming Son of man:[A]nd behold, with the clouds of heaventhere came one like a son of man,and he came to the Ancient of Daysand was presented before him.And to him was given dominionand glory and kingdom,that all peoples, nations, and languagesshould serve him;his dominion is an everlasting dominion,which shall not pass away,and his kingdom onethat shall not be destroyed. (Daniel 7:13-14)

And so, on several occasions, the New Testament speaks of Jesus Ascension using the peculiar image of a king who goes away and stays away while his kingdom is put in order for him by his servants acting in his name and with his authority. Most famously, Jesus does this in the Parable of the Pounds:

As they heard these things, he proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately. He said therefore, A nobleman went into a far country to receive kingly power and then return. Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten pounds, and said to them, Trade with these till I come. (Luke 19:11-13)

We will discuss this and similar parables of judgment more later, but suffice it to say here that the picture we are given is of Jesus going to a far country and entrusting to his servants gifts with which they are to increase and spread his holdings in the world.

Relatedly, Paul tells the Corinthians that Jesus must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet (1 Corinthians 15:25), again suggesting that Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father as king while we, his servants, are advancing his kingdom with the gifts he gives us.

And Peter will likewise describe Jesus as the one, whom heaven must receive until the time for establishing all that God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old (Acts 3:21), with the curious qualifier that we must repent and turn to him that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord (Acts 3:19).

The answer, of course, is found in the outpouring of the Spirit on the Church so that Christ remains present with us here on earth in the Church and through the sacramentssupremely the Eucharist in which he is really and truly present body, blood, soul, and divinitywhile still fully present in Heaven. By his power, manifested in our mysterious union with him despite our sins and failings, we are joined with him. As he himself says, The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, Behold, here it is! or There! for behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst. (Luke 17:20-21).

In the Ascension, the day has dawned when man is now present in Heavenbody, soul, and spiritin the person of the Son of man, Christ Jesus. Because he is already there, we who are in him are there as well, because God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with him, and made us sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:4-6).

This does not, of course, mean that Christians share in his sinlessness, perfection, or glorificationyet. A quick look at the news makes that clear. Rather, it means that humanity already has a toehold in Heaven and an advocate who labors tirelessly for our redemption when we fail and fall, as we so often do.

So the other image the New Testament holds before our eyes concerning the Ascended Christ is of Jesus standing before the Father as an eternal High Priest, perpetually making intercession for us. As the Catechism (662) says:

There Christ permanently exercises his priesthood, for he always lives to make intercession for those who draw near to God through him (Hebrews 7:25).As high priest of the good things to come he is the center and the principal actor of the liturgy that honors the Father in heaven (Hebrews 9:11; cf. Revelation 4:6-11).

This is why the Mass is so vital, because it is our greatest encounter with the Ascended Christ, fully present in the Eucharist and eternally worshipping his Father. In that liturgy, he not only acts as our High Priest, he brings us into his work through our baptism and confirmation to participate in his work as kings, priests, and prophets as well. We become fellow workers with Christ, building up the kingdom of Heaven here on earth with the gifts of the Spirit poured out as the fruits of his Ascension and Pentecost (1 Corinthians 3:9).

Acting by the Power of the Spirit

This reveals the paradox of Jesus going away to be seated on the Heavenly Throne in Acts, the companion volume to Luke. For the gospel Luke has just written only tells us of what Jesus began to do and teach (Acts 1:1). His entire earthly ministry is only the spark. The Church, filled with his Spirit, is the fire and hehe himselfis now to continue his work in a way more intimate with us than it was during his earthly ministry. Biblically, to be seated is to be in repose. Not asleep. Not watching TV. Not doing nothing. But secure in ones dominion. In antiquity, judges were seated. So were monarchs when they were enthroned. To say that Jesus is seated is to say he now reigns. To be sure, there is still work to be done. But it is in the nature of mop up, not in the nature of deciding the battle. The worst thing that could ever have happened in the universe has already happenedand God has turned it into the best thing. God has already been killed. Compared with that, everything is pretty small beer. But the death of God on the Cross has led to the life of the world. Jesus has entered on his reign. He is enthroned as King at the Fathers right handnow.

The right hand was the good hand in antiquity. The hand that pours out blessing, the hand that holds the sceptre, the hand that works, acts, fights. The hand is the locus of action. We do not theorize with our hands, we do things. Jesus, seated at the right hand of the Father, does things. And he empowers us to do things tooby his Spirit. Thus, when Peter appeals to the crowd at Pentecost he doesnt tell them God has poured out a concept or an idea. He has poured out this which you see and hear (Acts 2:33). Catholic Faith is still the same today. To be sure, we walk by faith and not by sight. But the fruit of our faith is still visible in the incarnate signs and acts of love we bear to the world. All these are poured out on us from Jesus, seated at the right hand of God the Father in a hope oriented not so much toward the future as toward eternity. For the same God we have known and know now is not going to abandon us. Rather, Jesus Christ, the head of the Church, precedes us into the Fathers glorious kingdom so that we, the members of his Body, may live in the hope of one day being with him for ever (CCC 666).

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Last Part of my Ascension Chapter | Mark Shea - Patheos

For 15 years, Rebecca Bianco worked as a claims resolution specialistthe same job as Dennyat a small-town hospital in Woodruff, Wis., about three hours north of Dennys office. Like Denny, Bianco figured shed retire there. In fact, Bianco and her husband had just bought a house near the hospital using her 401k to help with the down payment.

Then, in early 2018, she and her colleagues were pulled into a room and told they were being laid off. Bianco, in her mid-50s at the time, took the news hard. She started having panic attacks and is still on medication for the anxiety she says was initially brought on by the layoff.

We had settled here and I figured I would retire there, and what am I going to do now? she said.

Bianco and many of her colleagues lived in Minocqua, a small northern Wisconsin tourist town near Woodruff. Most have since moved away.

I think it affected our little town of Minocqua, she said. When Ascension took over, they really outsourced a lot of jobs. They cost a lot in this community. Whole families are gone now.

So far, no Ascension St. Francis Hospital employees who are members of the Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals have lost their jobs due to offshoring. But Jamie Lucas, director of the Milwaukee union, said he finds the health systems practice of offshoring troubling.

It really demonstrated to us that we needed to brace for their business model rather than their care-delivery model, he said. It doesnt feel like its about whats best for our patients and the community.

Offshoring relationships dont always work out as planned. After not-for-profit BJC HealthCare laid off Adam Guerich and his colleagues from their customer support technician jobs in November 2018, Guerich agreed to stick around for roughly five months to ensure the transition went smoothly.

Guerichs jobbased out of an office in St. Louis, where BJC is headquarteredinvolved helping BJC employees with information technology, including account access during onboarding, offboarding and role changes. In total, Guerich estimates BJC laid off at least 125 employees around that time, although its unclear how many of those were sent overseas. BJC declined to comment.

Before the change, Guerich and his team prided themselves on their ability to get through a high volume of help desk requests. Afterward, when the work was offshored to India, Guerich said employees hated it. Guerich said people struggled with the language barrier, and he didnt think the employees in India had received enough training.

The offshored employees would in many cases escalate problems they couldnt solve to Guerichs small remaining team. The question queue reached 1,000 at one point, with some requests months overdue, he said.

We were just totally overwhelmed with work, Guerich said.

Guerich, who now works for a national supply company, said he doesnt know whether BJC still offshores that work.

The TAA data show nearly 30 billing and transcription employees at Grays Harbor Community Hospital, in Aberdeen, Wash., became eligible for assistance in 2018 when the hospital offshored jobs to India. John Warring, shop steward with United Food and Commercial Workers Local 21 and a microbiologist at the hospital, estimates closer to 75 people were laid off around that time. The hospital declined to comment.

Lucy Vest had worked in a variety of positions at Grays Harbor for 44 years before she was laid off from her billing department job in January 2018. The news came on her 66th birthday, just after she and her coworkers had celebrated with a hot dog lunch.

I think it was the way they did it that people were quite upset with, Vest said. Because after this meeting they said, By your desks upstairs there are a couple of boxes. Take your personal items, and youll be escorted out of the building.

Vest retired after that, but most of her colleagues werent ready to do so. Some were in their 30s.

In a small, one-hospital town like Aberdeen, whose economy has sunk along with the decline of the timber industry, well-paying jobs with benefits are hard to come by, Warring said.

They basically were escorted out the door and told not to come back, he said. It was pretty heartbreaking for some of those employees who had been there for years and years. It was pretty traumatic for everybody.

Another potential ripple effect of offshoring: Employees who survive the layoffs might lose trust in their employer, fearing their jobs will be next.

After the Arizona Digestive Center in Scottsdale laid off employees in 2018 so the work could be done in India, Joyia Savoca Losow said she quit her job in the practices billing department. The center didnt respond to a request for comment.

If they dont have loyalty toward their workers, then I didnt think that was going to last, she said.

Guerich felt the same way after losing his job at BJC.

We were angry that they would do that to us, he said. Because we were their faithful employees. But everybody is replaceable. Always remember that, right?

Link:

Health systems may be warming to offshoring, a mainstay practice - ModernHealthcare.com

By the time the next baseball season begins, it will be a new decade. Here is a look back at some of the best Ascension baseball teams of this decade, years 2010-2020.

Unfortunately, the Coronavirus pandemic cancelled the second half of the high-school baseball season, putting an end to the championship dreams of all of the players throughout the state.

With no state tournament games being played this year, it prompts us to look to the past and reflect on all of the great parish teams that made memorable runs.

By the time the next baseball season begins, it will be a new decade. Here is a look back at some of the best Ascension baseball teams of this decade, years 2010-2020.

The only team to win a state championship during that time was the 2018 Ascension Catholic Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs went 28-9 that year, winning 22 of their final 23 games and beating district rival St. John, 4-3, in the Division-IV title game. It was their first championship victory since 1994.

Leading that team was LSU-Eunice signee Mason Zeringue and Charlie Gianelloni, who was named the Ascension Parish MVP in 2018.

Zeringue and Gianelloni also led the Bulldogs to Sulphur for the state semifinals the year prior.

That season, Ascension Catholic fell just short of the championship game. They lost an 11-inning classic to Central Catholic.

In addition to Zeringue and Gianelloni, that team was led by LSU-Eunice signees Landon Clifton and Nick Bellina.

Finally, the 2019 Bulldogs squad reached the state semifinals for a third straight season. Although, they too failed to reach the title game. They lost to eventual state champion Opelousas Catholic.

Ascension Catholic went 28-7 that season and was led by Ascension Pitcher of the Year Tre Medine.

The 2010 Dutchtown Griffins also reached the state semifinals. It was a year removed from finishing as state runners-up. They were eliminated by eventual state champion Catholic, 8-6.

That team was led by Ole Miss signee and eventual Major League Pitcher Jacob Waguespack and Coastal Carolina signee Troy Lewis.

Those two also helped the Griffins make a memorable state quarterfinal run in 2012.

They won their first two playoff games by a combined margin of 13-0. Unfortunately, in the quarterfinals, they dropped a 2-1 affair to eventual champion Barbe.

Along with Waguespack and Lewis, that team also had Cole Stapler, who went on to pitch at Nicholls and was later drafted by the Diamondbacks. They also had a young Austin Bain, who went on to start at LSU.

Bain also led the 2014 Griffins to the state quarterfinals.

They upset fourth-seeded Denham Springs in the second round, before getting swept by St. Amant in two tight games.

Along with Bain, that team had LSU-Eunice signee Dillon Abbess and a young duo of Northwestern State signees in Caleb Ricca and Payton Stafford. Ricca went on to get drafted by the Mariners last year.

St. Amant eliminated the Griffins in 2014. They went on to reach the state semifinals, where they lost a 2-0 contest to eventual state champion Barbe. That Barbe squad, led by the Jordan twins, went on to be named national champions.

The Gators won 20 of 22 games heading into the semifinals. They finished the year 29-9 overall.

They were led by Nicholls signee Blaine Schexnaydre and Brennan Grant.

The 2016 Gators upset No. 9 Sam Houston in the first round, and then upset No. 8 Brother Martin in round two. They lost to eventual champion Barbe in the quarterfinals.

The Gators had a stacked roster that year. They were led by Ascension Pitcher of the Year and District 5-5A MVP Blayne Enlow. Enlow went on to get drafted in the third round by the Twins in 2017.

They also had Florida International signee Adam Sevario and Nicholls signee Ivan Prejean.

Link:

Best parish baseball teams of the decade - Beauregard Daily News

DistractionsOffbeatPentecost, also known as 'Whitsun' or 'Whitsunday', commemorates the coming of the Holy Spirit to disciples following the death of Jesus

Sunday, 31st May 2020, 8:55 am

When is Whitsun?

The date of Pentecost changes each year because it falls exactly seven weeks after Easter Sunday, based on the biblical account of the apostles praying together and the Holy Spirit descending upon them 49 days after the resurrection of Christ.

The name of Pentecost comes from the Greek word "Pentekostos", meaning 50, reflecting its origins in the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, marked on the 50th day after Passover.

"Whitsun" is variously believed to be a shortening of "White Sunday" or to have its origins in the Anglo-Saxon word "wit", meaning "understanding".

It could therefore reflect the festival being a day for baptisms when worshippers traditionally wear white or the disciples being filled with the wisdom of the Holy Spirit.

Whats the history of Whitsun?

According to the Bible's New Testament the apostles were inspired to talk in tongues when the Holy Spirit descended on to them as they prayed together at the Shavuot festival.

Hearing them speaking in an unfamiliar language, the gathered onlookers in Jerusalem believed them to be drunk.

However, Saint Peter explained to them that the apostles were inspired by the spirit and delivered the first Christian sermon, leading to the conversion and baptism of 3,000 people.

Because of Peter's sermon, many consider Whitsun the birth of the Christian church as an official movement.

How is it celebrated?

Whitsun immediately precedes "Whit Monday", which was traditionally a holiday in the UK until being formally replaced in 1971 by a bank holiday on the final Monday in May.

However, Pentecost Monday is still a public holiday in carious European countries, including France, Germany and Belgium. In Poland, it is referred to as "the Green Holiday", a time for people to decorate their houses with green branches to bring blessings on the home and the people living in it.

True to its biblical origins, the day remains a popular time for baptisms, while some churches, particularly in Manchester and the north-west of England, hold traditional Whit Walks.

What is Ascension Day?

According to the Bible, Jesus travelled for 40 days with his apostles after his resurrection on Easter Sunday, preaching and prepared his followers for his departure.

Ascension Day, celebrated each year on the 40th day (or the sixth Thursday) after Easter, commemorates the final ascension of Christ into heaven, with this year's festival falling on Thursday 21 May.

Original post:

When is Pentecost 2020? The Whitsun date, meaning and what Ascension Day marks - iNews

Dive Brief:

Nonprofit hospitals are posting huge losses for the outset of 2020 as analysts predict an even grimmer second quarter to come. However, though losses in the first three months of the year dragged St. Louis-based Ascension into the red, the provider behemoth is still in a relatively good position to weather the pandemic, with current assets of $38.3 billion and 231 days of cash on hand.

Though patient volume was up prior to the pandemic, revenue from providing medical care flagged in the three-month period, as inpatient and ambulatory care slowed as the coronavirus surfaced in the U.S. In mid-March, Ascension deferred all non-essential procedures as stay-at-home orders kept potential patients in the home, impacting the system's volumes.

Total net patient service revenue was $5.7 billion, down 3% year over year. Net patient service revenues had the sharpest drop off in March, decreasing more than 15% in that month alone.

"COVID-19 has been encountered across all Ascension markets, to varying degrees, and has had an adverse effect," Ascension management wrote in comments on the results.

The system, which operates more than 2,600 sites of care, including 150 hospitals across 20 states and the District of Columbia, has received federal help to make up for lower-than-expected revenue.Ascension said in the filing it has received Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act funding before March 31. Though a spokesperson declined to tell Healthcare Dive a specific figure, Ascension has received at least $211 million from HHS, according to a New York Times review of the grants finding large hospitals with deep pockets are receiving the lion's share of congressional funds.

Smaller hospitals that serve more vulnerable populations were deeply critical of HHS' initial method to distribute the CARES funds, which put high margin hospitals at an advantage. The department did not take into account hospitals' existing financial resources in distributing the pot.

Nine-year-old Ascension also received just under $2 billion in accelerated loans from the Medicare program.

Normal increases in operations compounded the negative effect of the pandemic, Ascension said. The system was funneling money into expanding service lines and sites of care and standardizing revenue cycle services prior to the COVID-19 crisis, which sharply increased expenses.

Supplies expenses particularly jumped in March by almost 7%,as the system hustled to procure needed equipment at unexpected rates to prepare for an anticipated surge in COVID-19 patients.

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Ascension reports loss of $2.7B in Q1 - Healthcare Dive

River Region Art announces summer camp dates

River Region Art Association is opening its Summer Art Camp on June 15 at its Depot Gallery in Gonzales.

Summer Art Camp will be held June 1519, June 22-26, June 29 -July 3, July 1217, July 20 -24, July 2731 and Aug. 37.

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Age groups and times are: ages 610 attend 9 a.m. to noon and ages 1215 and older attend 1 p.m. - 4 p.m.

All safety guidelines put forth by the state, and OpenSafely will be adhered to, according to a news release. The association is a registered business with OpenSafely program.

Fee for summer camp is $100 per week. A camp registration form is available at rraa@riverregionartassociation.org.

A limit of 8 youths in each week of camp has been set in order to maintain the safe 6 foot distance requirement in the classroom. Masks are to be worn by all including teachers, sanitizing is done before and after class and students will have their own supplies for the week of class.

For any additional information, leave a message at (225) 644-8496.

Tanger Outlets will host the La. 621 Farmers Market near Shopper Services Suite 299 during June.

Locally-sourced products will be abailable from 7 am. to noon each Saturday in June. Products include fresh fruits and vegetables, farm fresh eggs, artisan breads, honey, jams/jellies, pickled eggs and vegetables, tamales, kettle corn, baked goods and specialty food items.

Starting Wednesday, May 27, there will be limited public access to Ascension public schools offices and schools, excluding high schools, for essential business. Limited public access to high schools will begin Monday, June 1. This is to allow our high schools extra time for graduation ceremony activities.

Limited and essential business includes the following:

Job-related appointments with human resources

Retirement and benefit related appointments with human resources

Work permits for students

New student registration

Other meetings by appointment only

Please note, new student registration at Dutchtown High School scheduled for May, 27, 2020, will be online. Visit http://www.apsb.org/DutchtownHigh for more information.

Ascension Public Schools employees returned to work last week following the expiration of the state's stay-at-home order, according to a news release. All employees are following health guidelines such as wearing face coverings as needed and when appropriate, maintaining social distancing, frequently washing hands, and wiping down common area surfaces.

Starting June 1, Ascension Public schools offices and schools will be open Monday through Thursday from 7:45 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. and Fridays from 7:45 a.m. until 12:15 p.m. These modified hours will last in June. Normal operating hours of 8 a.m. until 4:15 p.m. will resume in July.

For more information about Ascension Public Schools, visit http://www.apsb.org.

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Around Ascension for May 27, 2020 | Ascension | theadvocate.com - The Advocate

Fellow church members occasionally ask: If all our sin was dealt with when Jesus died on the cross, why must we still confess it?

The answer is partly found in an oft overlooked aspect of Christian beliefJesus ascension. According to the New Testament, God raised Jesus from the dead, and then, 40 days later, took him up into heaven (Acts 1:911). Romans, Hebrews, and 1 John all describe the ascended Jesus actively working for his people in Gods heavenly presence. Romans 8:34 and Hebrews 7:25 identify Jesus present activity as intercession. In 1 John 2:12, Jesus serves as an advocate before the Father.

But why do Gods people need an advocate? Is the Crucifixion not enough for our salvation? I would answer no. The single event of the Cross is not sufficientonly the person of Jesus is sufficient. If all we had were the Cross, then wed have no salvation. As important as Jesus death is, Christs saving work involves more. We need Jesus ongoing ministry of intercession for our salvation. Hebrews identifies Jesus ongoing intercession as key for Jesus to save completely those who come to God through him (Heb. 7:25). To reduce Jesus saving work merely to his dying ignores this important aspect of Jesus present ministry for his people.

Salvation isnt accomplished just because Jesus died but because he was also raised and ascended into heaven. There, continuously interceding for us, Jesus maintains the New Covenant better (permanently better) than the Old Testament sacrifices and priests maintained the old. Hebrews and 1 John describe Christs heavenly ministry using concepts drawn from Old Testament sacrifices and priestly ministry. Hebrews looks to the annual Day of Atonement (Lev. 16) to explain how the ascended Jesus ensures his peoples salvation. The earthly high priests entered Gods presence in the Holy of Holies once every year to offer the sacrifice of atonement by sprinkling blood.

But Jesus did something better. He ascended to Gods presence in the heavenly Holy of Holies once for all time. There, as an ever-living sacrifice, he offered himself before the Father the way the earthly high priests offered the sacrificial blood (Heb. 9:67, 2426). Hebrews says that Jesus took his seat at Gods right hand after he made purification for sins (Heb. 1:3). Jesus presently rules on the heavenly throne as Gods exalted Son. Hebrews also affirms that Jesus now serves as the Great High Priest who continues to work for the salvation of his siblings. He is seated, but he is not silent. Even now, the ascended Christ ministers as the Great High Priest in the heavenly Holy of Holies (Heb. 8:12), perpetually interceding for his people (Heb. 7:25). This is part of how he saves us completely.

Similarly, 1 John reflects on Jesus work in the light of Jewish sacrifices: Jesus himself is the atoning sacrifice now located in the Fathers presence (1 John 2:1-2). As in Hebrews, Jesus is not silent in Gods presence. He actively advocates for his people when they sin. This advocacy supplies the rationale for Johns admonition to believers to continually confess their sins (1 John 1:9). The reality of ongoing sin requires ongoing confession and forgiveness of sin. Jesus ascension makes this possible because Jesus, who is the atoning sacrifice, presently pleads with his Father for his people. Unlike Hebrews, 1 John does not identify Jesus as high priest, but Jesus ongoing advocacy clearly implies his priestly ministry.

In Romans 8:34, Paul also highlights the importance of Jesus ongoing intercession at Gods right hand as a central means for preserving relationship between God and Gods people. No one can condemn those who are in Christ. This truth depends not only on Jesus death, but, as Paul says, even more on his resurrection and present intercession at Gods right hand. Paul can therefore confidently declare that nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 8:39). Jesus love extends beyond the Crosshis death, resurrection, and ongoing intercession at Gods right hand are essential for his peoples salvation. Take out any one of those elements and, like the Jenga tower that falls to pieces when a key block is removed, Pauls confident claims in Romans 8:3539 collapse.

The preceding reflections do not do full justice to the significance of Jesus ascension. They only highlight some of the important implications of this event. They remind us that our ascended Lord is not sitting silently in his Fathers presence. He actively intercedes and advocates for us, ministering before the Father as our merciful and faithful high priest (Heb. 2:17). We need this ministry as we continue to wait for the Lord to return and make all things right (Heb. 9:28). Our salvation is completely contingent on Jesusthe one who died but even more rose, ascended, and presently intercedes for us.

Why do we continue to confess our sins and seek forgiveness even after professing faith in Christs salvific death?

All of this brings us back to our opening question. Why do we continue to confess our sins and seek forgiveness even after professing faith in his salvific death? We do this, boldly even, because Jesus ascended as our great advocate, our high priest (Heb. 4:1416). He has returned to his Father and ours to intercede on our behalf. This present work is an essential part of the ongoing relationship that he, the Father, the Holy Spirit, and we as Gods people share. Jesus ascension, we might say, is part of how he maintains the New Covenant relationship he inaugurated at his death. Atonement in the Old Testament wasnt accomplished simply by slaughtering animals; their bodies and blood had to be brought to the altars by priests with prayers offered. Similarly, Jesus ascension brought him, the crucified and resurrected one, into Gods heavenly presence to minister as his peoples high priest. He is the atoning sacrifice who died, rose, and now intercedes for his siblings. He ensures his people will receive the salvation God has promised them. We still sin and fall short, but we have an advocate in heaven. We can, therefore, confidently proclaim his death, until he comes (1 Cor. 11:26).

David M. Moffitt is Reader in New Testament Studies, University of St Andrews, Scotland

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What's Up with the Ascension? - ChristianityToday.com

Reading Time: 5 minutesWhy are you Jews gawking at the sky?

Well, because God told Abram, Look up at the night sky, for your descendants shall be as many as the stars of heaven. Abram believed the Lord and this was reckoned to him as righteousness. (Gen 15:4-6)

Moses also said, Look up to the heavens, and see the sun and moon and stars. Admire but do not worship them, for the Lord it was made these, and made you for his own people. (Deut 4:18-20)

David, too, looked to the heavens and saw the angel of the Lord with his sword drawn over Jerusalem. He did penance, so God would spare his people from their plague. (1Chr 21:16-17).

After the patriarchs it was the prophets turn to look to the heavens. They said, Listen, you that are deaf, and you that are blind,lookupand see! (Isa 42:18; Jer 3:2; Zech 5:5 etc.).

Well, because wise men looked up and saw a star rising in the East, and followed it to Bethlehem, to the Infant King of the Jews. And shepherds looked up to the heavens and saw the angel host also pointing that way. And apostles looked up and saw Jesus transfigured (Mt 2:1-12; 17:1-8; Mk 9:2-8; Lk 2:8-13; 9:28-36).

Jesus, too, looked up to heaven, and sighed a deep sigh of prayer, when He said to a deaf-mute, Ephphatha be opened and to a dead friend, Lazarus, come out! (Mk 7:34; Jn 11:38-44)

And, on the night before He died, Jesus took bread in His holy and venerable hands, and with eyes raised to heaven, to His almighty Father, giving Him thanks, He said the blessing, broke the Bread and gave it to His disciples (Roman Canon; Mt 14:19; 26:26; Mk 6:41; 14:22; Lk 9:16 22:19-20; 1Cor 11:23-25)

Which is why Christian priests to this day raise their eyes to heaven at the consecration.

And why the faithful, even great sport stars, often look upwards when they pray. Why are you men from Galilee standing there gawking at the sky? the angels asked (Acts 1:1-11) And still we stare.

Is it just nostalgia? In a sense, yes. St Thomas Aquinas teaches that the history of salvation is essentially one of Gods exitus and reditus, His comings and goings, especially the Son leaving heaven in Christ Jesus to dwell among men, before returning to the right hand of the Father. However sad it was for those left behind, the Ascension celebrates a homecoming for Jesus (Jn 16:5,10,17,28; 17:11,13; 20:17). As His mission began with kings and shepherds looking up to the skies, it comes now full circle with apostles-made-shepherds also gaping upwards. People gawking at the heavens bookend the Gospel.

Which is an interesting part of Jesus story. But why do we, too, feel nostalgia for heaven? Why do we talk of someone who has died returning to the Father or going home when theyve never been there before? Well, Aquinas explains, those goings and comings of the persons of God that theologians call processions and missions are also the principle of our creation and redemption, identity and mission, destiny and completion. If we are made from heaven, we are also made for heaven. Heaven is our homeland.

On great feasts like this one you might notice some tweaking of the First Eucharistic Prayer. You can expect today an inclusion like Celebrating that most sacred day on which your Only Begotten Son, having completed his mission on earth, returned to his throne of glory at your right hand. But no, the focus even here is on what it does for us: Celebrating the most sacred day, the prayer declares, on which your Only Begotten Son, our Lord, placed at the right hand of your glory our weak human nature, which he had united to himself.You see, God the Son didnt leave the heavenly realm, assuming the form of a servant, for some cosmic tourism. It was for our sake, so He could take us back with Him.

Thus in the Ascension window of our cathedral, as the disciples watch Jesus flying through the air, He is not looking towards the Father above but to us below, with love on His face and blessing in His hand. And in the little scene beneath that window we see the two angels encouraging the grieving disciples, Why are you guys gawking at the heavens? Jesus has ascended but He will return to take you with Him.

What to do in the meantime? Consumed by nostalgia, we could easily just keep staring toward heaven and give up on this earth. But had father Abraham done that, hed have had no descendants at all, let alone a whole night-skys worth of Jews and Christians. If teacher Moses had remained sky-gazing, wed all be mired in astrology and nature worship, as he warned. If King David had kept focused on heavenly visions, he might never have repented and saved his people from plague. If the magi and shepherds had kept looking upwards, they would never have seen the Christ child in the manger below. If the apostles had focused only on higher things, they would have neglected to bring the deaf-mute and dead Lazarus to Jesus. And if Jesus Himself cared only for the things above, He would never have condescended to leave us His Body and Blood in the Eucharist.

When we look upwards in our prayers, it is with knees or feet firmly on the ground. And so in our Gospel today Jesus does not say All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Stay, therefore, and worship me as well He might. No, His great commission is All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, make disciples of all the nations; baptise them and teach them. Easter is no free pass, its a procession, mission, sending forth into all the world, so we might bring that world back home to heaven. And as you do so, Jesus says, know that I am with you always; yes, to the end of time!

This is the edited text of the homily by Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP for the Mass of the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, Year A, livestreamed from St Marys Cathedral, Sydney, 24 May 2020.

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The Ascension: He has returned to heaven - and He is always with us - The Catholic Weekly

Jesus ascending to heaven by John Singleton Copley, 1775 (Public domain / Wikipedia)

Sunday, May 24, is the Ascension of the Lord (Boston; Hartford, Connecticut; New York; Newark, New Jersey; Philadelphia; and the state of Nebraskas dioceses celebrate Ascension Thursday three days earlier).Mass readings: Acts 1:1-11; Psalm 47: 2-3, 6-9; Ephesians 1:17-23; Matthew 28:16-20.

An old college friend recently asked me, in a semi-joking fashion, if I thought that the coronavirus pandemic was a sign of the end times. In the course of our conversation, he explained that there is quite an online community of Christian alarmists, according to whom the coronavirus qualifies as the first of four final plagues to be visited on the Earth. Later, as I reflected on this exchange, I thought of the unrest caused by the Mayan calendar several years ago, when some people predicted that the end of the world would coincide with its terminal date: Dec. 21, 2012. I also thought about the 1993 standoff in Waco, Texas, where a group of Branch Davidians, believing the apocalypse was immanent, clashed with the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. In short, it occurred to me that such prognostications about the end of the world are neither new nor rare.

Whatever else might be said of this impulse to predict the end of the world, it is certain that Our Lord has a ready response to it in todays first reading. When the disciples ask Jesus, Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel? he answers by saying that it is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established (Acts 1:6-7). It is reminiscent of that moment in the Gospel of Matthew when he admonishes his disciples to remain vigilant since they know neither the day nor the hour that the Lord will come (Matthew 25:13). Jesus emphasizes vigilance to his disciples to prepare them to embark on their mission in the world: You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). Rather than prognosticate about the time of the coming of the heavenly kingdom, they are to focus on their mission: to witness to Jesus Christ by preaching the word of truth and living it in their daily lives.

It is also clear from this exchange that the disciples are to focus on their mission specifically by awaiting the Holy Spirit. In fact, they can do nothing by their own power to complete their mission successfully; rather, they must rely on the power (dunamis) the Holy Spirit will give them. Further, the nature of this power will be immediately demonstrated in their works (Acts 2): They will be able to heal the sick, cast out demons, and speak the truth elegantly and forcefully to the nations in many tongues.

Although Christ promised his apostles that he would send them the Spirit, they still must have felt some uncertainty in the time between the Lords departure and their reception of the Holy Spirit, especially considering that they continued to be persecuted by the Jerusalem authorities. Yet, accompanying this uncertainty was an opportunity; in these uneasy days awaiting the Holy Spirit, they were able to contemplate all that had happened, thereby allowing the Resurrection appearances to sink in. The time of waiting in Jerusalem thus disposed the apostles to receive the Spirit with open minds and hearts.

In our liturgical celebration of these saving mysteries, we, like the apostles, observe the Easter season as a period of time that allows the significance of the resurrection of the Lord to sink in. Like the apostles, we are asked to open our minds and hearts to receive the Holy Spirit more deeply at Pentecost so that we can focus more intently on our mission of spreading the saving truth of the Gospel by our words and deeds. And if we focus on that with all our minds and hearts, neither the day nor the hour will matter.

Dominican Father Jordan Schmidtis an instructorin sacred

Scripture at the Pontifical Faculty of the

Immaculate Conception at theDominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C.

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The Ascension and Awaiting the Advocate - National Catholic Register

Ascension "Sonia" Blawatsky, formerly of Havre, 92, passed away peacefully at the Livingston Hospital on May 12, 2020.

A funeral mass at St. Judes Catholic Church will be held at a later date.

Ascension Nieto-Hernandez was born in Madrid, Spain, in 1928 to Santiago Nieto and Ascension Hernandez, the oldest of four siblings.

After completing school, she worked in Madrid for the telephone company. Eventually, she met her future husband, Vladimir Blawatsky, who was a foreign exchange student in Spain. They both emigrated to Canada and were blessed with three children.

With an employment opportunity, Ascension and her family moved to Havre, Montana and had one more child. In Havre, Ascension worked for the former Sacred Heart Catholic Hospital and many years at the hot lunch program at St. Jude's school.

Her husband, parents and siblings Santiago Nieto and Josephina Garcia-Nieto preceded her in death.

She is survived by her sister Isabel Nieto-Villa, children, Sonia, Nicholas, Elizabeth and John, grand-children and great grandchildren.

Our mother had a heart of gold and she loved her husband, children and grandchildren fiercely. She flourished surviving war, immigration, cultures and languages. Our mother loved life and was very social. She loved old movies, being with her friends, gardening, knitting, crocheting and loved a party. She was a great cook and wrote down recipes on any available piece of paper. She was brave and proud, fun and honest. She missed her Vladimiro till her last day. May the heavens burn a little brighter for their reunion.

To share remembrances, visit http://www.Franzen-Davis.com .

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Obituary - Ascension 'Sonia' Blawatsky - The Havre Daily News