The Ascension Of Our Lord Into Heaven - By HH Pope Shenouda III

The Ascension Of Our Lord Into Heaven 

By HH Pope Shenouda III

We celebrate two great feasts on Thursday. The First great feast of the Lord is Great Thursday of the Holy Pascha, on which the Lord gave us the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. The second is the Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord into Heave, after He spent forty days with His disciples.  This Thursday is also a Feast of the Lord called the Feast of Ascension.

By the Ascension of the Lord, we mean His bodily Ascension. 
 
Because in His divinity, He is everywhere, He does not ascend nor descend.  Therefore, in the Liturgy of St. Gregory we say "And You ascended into the heavens in the body…."  This ascension is evidence that His Glorified Body is not subject to the earth's gravitational laws.  It is also evidence of His Divinity.  He ascended before His disciples as they were looking.  This scene strengthened their faith because the Lord not only resurrected using His Divine Power, but He also ascended into heaven in front of them.

In His Ascension to Heaven, He did not leave His Church alone on Earth. 
 
He told them before His ascension "I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Matthew 28:20
Christ stayed with the church, and they did not feel His material presence only, but also His spiritual presence … He appeared to St. Paul the Apostle more than once. He also appeared to St. John the disciple on the Island of Patmos and gave him letters to the Seven Churches.

By His Ascension, He Sat on the Right Hand of His Father.

This is according to what was said in St. Mark's Gospel "So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God." Mark 16:19
Sitting on the right hand of God fulfilled God's promise to Him in the Old Testament saying: "The Lord said to my Lord, 'Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.'"  Psalm 110:1
This event was witnessed by St. Stephen the Archdeacon during the time of his martyrdom: 'and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”' Acts 7:56
St. Paul the Apostle also spoke about this in his epistle to Hebrews
"When He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high." Hebrews 1:3
"We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens."  Hebrews 8:1
"looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."  Hebrews 12:2
 
His Ascension to Heaven, and sitting on the right hand of the Father, all that means the end of the statement "Made Himself of no reputation." Philippians  2:7

The statement, "On the right hand of the Father" means in the power and holiness of the Father.   God who fills all does not have a right and a left side like limited beings.  However, the right means the power and holiness: "The right hand of the Lord is exalted; The right hand of the Lord does valiantly."  Psalm 118:16    So, sitting on the right hand of the Father means ending making Himself of no reputation, and going back to the form of power that He gave up in His incarnation.   The statement "Sat" means settled, meaning that He will not go back to being of no reputation again.  Therefore, in His second coming He will come in power and great glory:  “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory." Matthew 25:31

Moreover, The Ascension of the Lord Christ to Heaven makes us direct our sights to Heaven where He is and where He was before His incarnation.

The statement "To Heaven" means to the highest.   So our sights rise up there when we pray. And so do the Church Towers, they aim for Heaven. 

3rd Sunday - Sunday of the Living Water

CHRIST is Risen - Truly He is Risen  
Khristós Anésti! Alithós Anésti!  

Sundays of the Holy Fifties  

Meditation on Church reading during the Holy Fifties: 

The fathers of the church arranged and named Sundays of the Holy Fifties as they did with the Sundays of the Great Fasting. 

3rd Sunday - Sunday of The Living Water: John 4: 1-42

Our reward on 3rd Sunday is the Living Water, that is given to us by God. (John 4: 1-42)
God described Himself as the fountain of living water “ ..they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters.”   Jeremiah 2:13
From Him comes the Holy Spirit. The Lord told His disciples: “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you."  John 14: 26
 
We are spiritually reborn and get the seal of the Holy Spirit at the Sacrament of Baptism and Chrism (Mayroon) “Most assuredly I say to you unless one is born of water and Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of GOD.”  John 3: 5
When our Lord talked to the Samaritan woman, He said: "but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him, will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”  John 4:14
“… he who believes in Me shall never thirst.”  John 6:35
“…If any one thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of Living Water."  John  7:37- 38
 
O Lord, we are thirsty ”As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul  for You, God.”  Psalm 42:1
O Lord deliver us from the stormy waves “He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.”   
Psalm  23: 2
O Lord You promised to give us “I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.”  Revelation  21: 6