The Easter Season begins at the Easter Vigil and ends fifty days later on the feast of Pentecost. The whole of Eastertide was originally called Pentecost and it was considered to be one big festival. There are three major celebrations within the fifty days: the Easter Vigil (the resurrection), Ascension (Jesus is taken into heaven) and Pentecost (sending of the Holy Spirit). The liturgical colour for the season is white, with the exception of Pentecost, when red vestments are worn. The Feast of the Ascension The fortieth day after Easter Sunday, which is a Thursday, is the feast of the Ascension. It is described the feast this way: ‘The Ascension is not about Jesus going up into outer space.’ The feast is not so much an event as it is ‘a celebration of the passing of the baton from Jesus to us. The risen lord is now present in his people, and each of the readings on this day stresses the mission of the Church to carry on the work of Jesus.’ First Reading: Acts 1:1-11 – Jesus is taken into heaven. Second Reading: Ephesians 4:1-13 – Jesus is in heaven and we must live our vocation. Gospel: Mark 16:15-20– Jesus commissions the eleven disciples to go out and spread the Good News. It is obvious from the account in Acts, that the Ascension is not an isolated feast, but part of the larger narrative of the Easter Season: Preparing for Easter Easter Sunday to Pentecost “After his suffering [Jesus] presented himself alive to them . . . over the course of forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God . . . ‘This’, he said, ‘is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’
Transcript
The Easter Season begins at the Easter Vigil and ends fifty days later on the feast of Pentecost. The whole of Eastertide was originally called Pentecost and it was considered to be one big festival. There are three major celebrations within the fifty days: the Easter Vigil (the resurrection), Ascension (Jesus is taken into heaven) and Pentecost (sending of the Holy Spirit). The liturgical colour for the season is white, with the exception of Pentecost, when red vestments are worn.
The Feast of the Ascension
The fortieth day after Easter Sunday, which is a Thursday, is the feast of the Ascension.
It is described the feast this way: ‘The Ascension is not about Jesus going up into outer space.’ The feast is not so much an event as it is ‘a celebration of the passing of the baton from Jesus to us. The risen lord is now present in his people, and each of the readings on this day stresses the mission of the Church to carry on the work of Jesus.’
First Reading: Acts 1:1-11 – Jesus is taken into heaven. Second Reading: Ephesians 4:1-13 – Jesus is in heaven and we must live our vocation. Gospel: Mark 16:15-20– Jesus commissions the eleven disciples to go out and spread the Good News.
It is obvious from the account in Acts, that the Ascension is not an isolated feast, but part of the larger narrative of the Easter Season:
Preparing for Easter Easter Sunday to Pentecost
“After his suffering [Jesus] presented himself alive to them . . . over the course of forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God . . . ‘This’, he said, ‘is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’
. . . you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.”(Acts 1:3-5; 8-9)
Jesus’ ascension is also a sign of hope for us. May we follow him faithfully, for his ascencion is our glory and our hope. In the meantime, we are called to become Christ for others – ‘witnesses’ – in our everyday lives.
The Feast of Pentecost
For Christians, Pentecost refers to the fiftieth day after the Resurrection of Christ when the Holy Spirit descended on the first Christians in the form of tongues of fire (Acts 2:1ff). Those first Christians were Jews and they reinterpreted their traditions in the light of what they knew about Jesus. So the Jewish feast of Pentecost became the celebration of the new covenant with Christ. St Paul applied all the themes relating to the Jewish feast to Christ: Jesus was ‘our paschal lamb’ (1 Cor 5:7), the ‘mediator of a new covenant’ (Heb 9:15) and ‘the first fruits of those who have died’ (1 Cor 15:20).
The fiftieth day after Easter Sunday is called Pentecost Sunday. ‘Pentecost’ is derived from a Greek word, meaning ‘the fiftieth’ day. Both Jews and Christians celebrate this feast.
For Jews, Pentecost refers to the fiftieth day after Passover. They call this the Festival of Weeks (or Shavu'ot). Originally it was a thanksgiving for the wheat harvest and the first fruits of the harvest were taken to the Temple.
The feast also celebrates the renewal of the covenants between God and the chosen people received through Noah (Gen 8:20ff), Abraham (Gen 22:15ff) and Moses (Ex 19:1ff). The giving of the law (or Torah) to Moses on Mount Sinai is the particular focus of the feast. At the first Passover, the ancient Israelites were freed from slavery to the Egyptians, and through the Torah, they were freed from slavery to idolatry and immorality.
Pentecost is often identified as the birthday of the Church because it was after the Holy Spirit inspired the early believers that they began taking the good news out to the world. During the Pentecost Sunday Mass, the Prayer over the Gifts expresses this concept:
Lord, send your Spirit on these gifts and through them help the Church you love to show your salvation to all the world.
Now that Jesus is no longer physically on earth, Christians are called to become his feet and hands, so to speak, in order to continue his work in the world.
We are transformed into Christ principally through the sacraments, especially Eucharist: as St Augustine wrote ‘you are what you have received.’
