Ascension of the Lord C
Acts 1: 1-11
Psalm 47
Ephesians 1: 17-23
Luke 24: 46-53

The Solemnity of the Ascension is kept on the fortieth day after Easter, commemorating the return of Jesus to His Father. In each cycle of the lectionary, the First Reading and the Responsorial Psalm remain constant. The First Reading, from the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles, gives St. Luke’s account of this mystery. It is from this reading that the Introit for this day is taken: “Men of Galilee, why are you standing here looking up at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up form you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen Him going into heaven, alleluia!” The responsorial psalm is a kingship song, demonstrating that the early church saw the Ascension as the “scriptural” observance of the “Kingship of Christ.”

In cycle C:
The Second Reading (from the Letter to the Hebrews) speaks of Christ, who “did not enter into a sanctuary made by hands, a copy of the true one—but into heaven itself, that He might now appear before God in our behalf.” Because of this, “we have confidence of entry into the sanctuary by the new and living way He opened for us through the veil (that is, His flesh).” The hymn “Alleluia! Sing to Jesus” (PTL) is based on many of the readings for this feast, especially here:
Thou within the veil hast entered,
Robed in flesh, our great High Priest;
Here on earth, both Priest and Victim
In the Eucharistic feast!
The Gospel (from Luke) has a different feel from the other Synoptics. When Jesus is taken from the disciples, they do not gaze up into heaven, wondering (as they did in Matthew); instead, after Jesus blessed them and was taken up into heaven, “the disciples did Him homage and then returned to Jerusalem with great joy.” Trusting in the promise of the Spirit, they were able to wait with patience the fulfillment of the Savior’s promise.

In the Byzantine Vespers for Ascension, this hymn is sung today: O loving Jesus, while You lived on earth, You were God inseparable from the Father, and yet You truly shared our humanity. Ascending in glory today from the Mount of Olives, through your great love You lifted up our fallen nature and enthroned it with the Father on high. Therefore, the bodiless Powers were amazed and filled with awe at seeing Your great love for all. Together with them, we who live on earth glorify Your condescension to us and Your ascension away from us. Now we implore You, saying: Through Your Ascension You have filled Your apostles and Your Mother with a joy that surpasses every other joy, and through their intercession make us worthy of the joy of Your elect, for You are rich in mercy!

The Liturgy of the Hours for the Ascension is all proper to the feast, and begins on Wednesday night with First Evening Prayer. If the solemnity is transferred to Sunday, the First Evening Prayer is sung on Saturday night, and nothing is used of the Seventh Sunday of Easter in the Liturgy of the Hours in that case.

Propers from the Roman Gradual

The church is told not to be idly looking “up into heaven” today in the Introit. We have our work, our marching orders (as told in the Communion Antiphon). The Second Reading reminds us that “when he ascended to the height, he took humanity captive,” and the Offertory celebrates that going up “with a merry noise!” The Communion Antiphon is taken from today’s Gospel.

Introit: Viri Galilaei (Acts 1:11; Ps. 47:1)
(matches the First Reading)
O men of Galilee, why do you stand in wonder,
looking up into heaven, alleluia?
in the same way that you have seen him going up into heaven,
so shall he return, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
O clap your hands, all you peoples;
O shout to God with a cry of joy.

Offertory: Ascendit Deus (Ps. 47:5)
God has gone up with a merry noise,
and the Lord with the sound of the trumpet, alleluia.

Communion: Signa eos (Mk. 16:17-18)
(matches the Gospel in Year B)
These signs will accompany those who believe:
they will cast out demons,
and when they lay their hands upon the sick,
they will recover, alleluia.

Propers from the Simple Gradual

Entrance: BFW 175 (Galilean men and women . . . )
or BFW 176 (Jesus has been taken up to heaven . . . )
Response: Alleluia psalm BFW 178 or BFW 179
Offertory: BFW 180 (God mounts his throne . . . )
Communion: BFW 182 (The Lord said to my lord . . . )