Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord/C
Massimo Palombella
Today’s feast is a memorial of Jesus’ ascension into heaven 40 days after Easter. The episode is narrated mainly in the Gospel of Luke (Lk 24, 50-53) and in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 1, 3-11). The origin of this celebration is attested from the 4th century onwards. In the writings of Saint John Chrysostom and Saint Gregory of Nyssa, the Ascension is sometimes mentioned while the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Symbol recalls this episode in the life of Jesus. In the 15th century this feast had an octave, which was later suppressed by Pope Leo XIII in favour of the Pentecost novena.
The correct liturgical setting for the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord is Thursday of the sixth week of Easter (exactly 40 days after Easter). In countries where this solemnity is not a holiday, it is postponed to the following Sunday, the 7th of Easter Time.
The Lord’s Ascension attests our final destination, explicitly saying that eternity belongs to us, that we are constituted, enabled to see God, and that our whole history, our choices, our joys, our sorrows, our efforts, our freedom, all slowly carve and shape that face which will be ours forever. Moreover, Ascension is the “separation” of Jesus from the Apostles and therefore, like all our separations in life, it is a great opportunity to mature towards that healthy autonomy that determines our identity in a substantial manner. Every separation immediately resonates as distance but, surprisingly, can lead us to a greater closeness, the inner closeness. The Apostles too had to move from a “historical” relationship with Jesus to a deeper, inner one, the only relationship that enabled them to truly live and die for Him. We, like the Apostles, without separations we will not really arrive at the truth of our relationships, we will not really become capable of living in abundance, we will not be able to prepare ourselves for life without end.
The Offertory antiphon of today’s celebration is taken from Psalm 46 (Ps 46:6) with the following text:
Ascendit Deus in iubilatione, Dominus in voce tubae, alleluia.
(God has gone up amidst shouts of joy, the Lord to the sound of the trumpet, alleluia).
The attached music is by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594), and comes from the book of ‘Offertoria totius anni’ published in Venice in 1594 (Offertoria totius anni [Venetiis, apud Angelum Gardanum 1594]). The live performance is by the Musical Chapel of the Duomo of Milan at the Concert in the Church of San Gottardo in Corte (Milan) on 8 May 2025.
A blessed Sunday, happy Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, and heartfelt greetings.
