Dear Friends in Christ—
We are still in Easter season—but things are changing. Next Thursday, May 13, is the Feast of the Ascension, one of the major feasts of the church year. You have probably never been to an Ascension party or bought an Ascension present, because the holiday doesn’t register on the secular calendar. In fact, it often gets lost in the church calendar.
But here’s why the Ascension matters, especially this year.
The Ascension is essentially the flip side of Christmas. In December, we celebrate how the divine enters our ordinary human lives. In May, we honor how all that is ordinary, corporeal, and human is gathered up into God’s divine life. And especially this year—when we have witnessed the weakness of human bodies in this pandemic—I think we need this reminder. We are destined for glory, however messy or grim our situation looks in the present moment.
You can mark this feast day in your own prayers. And there are two ways we celebrate it as a community:
- At 6:00 p.m., meet at Gravelly Point (weather permitting) for fellowship and looking upwards. (I doubt we will see anyone ascending to heavens, but it’s really cool to watch planes take off.). You are invited to bring your own picnic, and children and leashed pets are welcome. Chrissie Crosby and I will be there, and we’ll close our time by 7:00 with a short prayer.
- At 7:30 p.m., we will livestream Choral Eucharist from the nave.
I look forward to looking upwards with you—
Yours in Christ,
Anne+