As has become custom, the communities of Christ Church Cathedral and the Church of St John the Divine once again join forces to celebrate the Feast of the Ascension with a Choral Eucharist featuring choirs from both churches.
What is the Ascension?
Forty days after Easter, Christians celebrate Christ’s bodily ascension into heaven. According to Acts 1, Jesus tells the disciples “to remain in Jerusalem and await the coming of the Holy Spirit;” he is then taken up from the disciples in their sight, a cloud hides him from view, and two men in white appear to tell them that he will return in the same way they have seen him go into heaven.
In contemporary theology, this moment is a kind of “inversion” of the Christmas story. Christmas teaches us that God is with us here on earth. The Ascension teaches us that we are also with God “in heaven.” In other words, if Christmas brings divinity to humanity, the Ascension bring humanity to divinity. And if that is the case, then we are in a very good position indeed to accomplish Christ’s objectives for the world.