After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. (Acts 1:9)
Augustine
claimed that according to apostolic tradition, the fourth Thursday after Easter
is the day to celebrate the Ascension. I'm not really much of a holiday person
partly because I'm not a party person. I'm more interested in the meaning
behind a day than with the hoopla. Perhaps it's evidence of my lack of
education, but I've never seen the sense to Shrove Tuesday, or Ash Wednesday,
or Maundy Thursday. I am even a little dubious about celebrating Christmas, but
it seems to me that celebrating Christ's ascension makes complete sense. This
is a holiday I'm going to add to my calendar.
I have to admit, until I looked at the
calendar for today's blog entry, I'd never considered celebrating the Ascension
or Pentecost. Church holidays and traditions tend to be curiosities. But if
Easter is the most important Christian holiday, what are the next most
important events? At the moment, I would say His return (date unknown),
Pentecost, and His Ascension. These ought to be at least as significant in our
lives as Mother's Day.
This year's
celebration is going to be necessarily bare-bones. I may try to put something
together for Sunday, which is the modern date of its celebration. Next year's
celebration is something to which I can look forward and plan. Care to join me?+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
On the Calendar
Ascension Day
Birthday of
Soren Kierkagaard
Karl Marx
Henryk Sienkiewicz
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