I have an extraordinary and relentless love for the readings of the Ascension of our Lord.
I particularly just can’t get over The Acts of the Apostles Chapter 1: 9-11, of which verse 9 says fter he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.”
If I put myself and people like me who suffer Separation Anxiety in the shoes of the apostles, I’d say that but for the men in white, we would have been there looking into the clouds till forever with a denial that Christ had FINALLY ascended and worse still, upon discovering the truth, would have been worse glum if there were no REASSURANCE of his RETURN but God is kind, so
(With the benefit of hindsight, a joyful look towards heaven to which our Lord ascended)
“10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
ASCENSION BLUESTONE
And so, ASCENSION Thursday, coming Forty days after Easter, takes our focus this week because it can actually be said to be a Sunday.
There are actually 56 Sundays in a year as far as the Catholic Church is concerned.
- 52 weekly Sundays
- 4 Other annually occuring Sundays which are:
* ASCENSION
* Assumption
*. All Saints
*. Christmas
These 4 others, though relatively unknown outside the Catholic world, are equal in weight and status as the first day of the week Sundays, which are known as the day of our Lord, regarded as Holy Days of Obligation and treated with the highest solemnity by the church.
To answer the obvious question why they are considered so special as to be ranked equal to Sundays, is a different topic for consideration, another time.
So, back to the main thread of our discussion today. it was Ascension last Thursday and for reasons above, my favourite Gospel Artist has crooned the Ascension Day Psalm Response and I do hope it would soothe any thoughts, like mine, that heartily await the return of our Lord and that the resonating rendition evokes a dejavu of the event itself and make all coaled lips speak the fact that we too would one day go up to heaven with shouts of joy and trumpets blast as we are reassured of the promise of the reading that our Lord is coming back FOR US.
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Ephphatha…Coaled Lips Comments, Welcome
Author: Ofuafo Otomewo
Ofuafo's bid to find a path for total self giving to God has resulted in this blog. Each post is a seed gift of time, treasure and talent sown for nothing other than the glory of God. With a flair for writing, honed by skills acquired as a graduate of English coupled with a PGD in Advertising and a 45 year cognate experience in drama, she brings this multifaceted blog genre of music, poetry, drama, prose e.t.c. to advance the message spelt out on the blurb page. Read the blurb and spread the word!
