THE DIVINE AND GLORIOUS ASCENSION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST (Part II)

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My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Lord, God, and Savior,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE

THE DIVINE AND GLORIOUS ASCENSION OF OUR LORD, GOD,
AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST

Apolytikion (Dismissal) Hymn of the Great Feast.

Thou ascended in glory, O Christ our God,
after Thou filled the Disciples with joy, by
promising to send them the Holy Spirit, and
Thou blessed them and established their faith,
that Thou are the Son of God, the Redeemer
of the world.

Kontakion Hymn of the Feast.

When Thou had fulfilled the dispensation for our
sake, and united things on earth with the things in
heaven, Thou were taken up thither in glory,
O Christ our God, going not away from any place,
but continuing inseparable, and to them that love Thee
crying out: “I am with you, and there is, therefore,
none against you.”

At the Ascension Christ had the wounds of the Cross on His Body and HE is on the Throne of the Father with these. Saint Nicodemos the Hagiorite collected Patristic passages in which one can see why Christ after His Resurrection left on His Body the wounds made by the nails and the spear, while He could have healed them. He gave five reasons. First, to adorn and beautify His body. Just as the windows in houses are a decoration, because they transmit the light of the sun, so it is too with the Body of Christ (Saint Gregory Palamas). Second, He left the wounds open for Thomas to feel them and to theologize about the Resurrection, to confess that He is God and man. Third, to show the great love which He has for man, because He suffered and in the fact, boasts about these marks of the Cross. Fourth, He left the holes open so that we may take shelter in them in time of trial and be covered, just as the pigeon runs to its nest when it is pursued by a hawk. Fifth, He left the wounds for the Jews to see and recognize on the Day of Judgment. In the Book of Revelation (Apocalypse) it says every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him” (Revelation 1:7).

Among other things He said, “I am going to send you what My Father has promised, but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). We find the same information in the Acts of the Apostles: “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). He also gave there a commandment: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift of My Father promised” [Acts 1:4).

 
   The Holy Disciples obeyed Christ’s command and, after worshipping Him, “they returned to Jerusalem with great joy.  And they were continually in the Temple, praising God” (Acts 24:52-53).  Indeed, as it says in the Acts of the Apostles, they went up into the Upper Room and “they all joined together persevering in prayer and supplication, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers”  (Luke 24:52-53).
 
  Interpreting these passages, in which we can see both Christ’s command and the Disciples’ OBEDIENCE TO IT, we can observe some interesting  points.
   First,  The Holy Disciples left the Mount of Olives with great joy.  Although they had been deprived of Christ, they were exceedingly glad, precisely because they had the assurance that they would receive the Holy Spirit, and then they would be MEMBERS of His Body.  Actually, being deprived of Chris in the flesh was a blessing, because they gained another COMMUNION AND UNITY WITH Him.  Moreover, Christ had assured them:  “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself”  (John 12:32).  Thus the Holy Disciples’ joy had two reasons.  First,  the hope of partaking of the Holy Spirit and second, the fact that they were granted to be personal eye-and ear-witnesses of such Great Mystery.
 
   Second.  Between the Ascension and Pentecost there was a period of PRAYER, SUPPLICATION AND STILLNESS, HESYCHIA of both body and soul.  NO ONE CAN PARTAKE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT UNLESS HE IS IN A STATE OF PRAYER AND INNER NEPSIS.  Moreover, the practical life, which is the keeping of Christ’s commandments prepares the ground for what is called PURE PRAYER, AND PRAYER IS THE BASIC PRECONDITION FOR ACQUIRING AND PARTAKING OF THE GIFT OF THE ALL-HOLY SPIRIT.
 
  THIRD.  The Holy Disciples are constantly gathered together, persevering with the Panagia, Christ’s Mother, in their midst.  This shows the value of the worship of the Church, because AT THE CENTER, IS THE PERSON  MOST BELOVED TO CHRIST AND TO THE CHRISTIANS, THE PANAGIA (ALL-HOLY MOTHER OF GOD] THE THEOTOKOS did not claim any authority or any function in the Church, but SHE WAS AT THE CENTER OF THE WORSHIP, THE MOST PRECIOUS TREASURE THE CHURCH HAD AND HAS.

FOURTH. We should always OBEY CHRIST’S COMMANDMENTS BECAUSE THEY HAVE A GOOD AND HOLY RESULT. If the Holy Disciples had not returned to Jerusalem, if in their distress they had departed each in his own house, they would not have been granted the great gift of receiving the Holy Spirit and of becoming MEMBERS OF THE BODY OF CHRIST. THUS THEY DID NOT SIMPLY KEEP THE COMMANDMENT, BUT THEY WERE PROTECTED BY IT.

Christ’s Holy Ascension is celebrated in hymns and spiritual chants, but AT THE SAME TIME IN ACTION AND VISION OF GOD, WHICH MEANS WITH PURITY AND ILLUMINATION OF THE NOUS. Within this struggle and illumination the person rejoices at the great meaning and very deep content of the Feast. Then he/she rejoice exceedingly over the Feast of the Lord. By His Ascension “to the place where He was before”, Christ showed THAT HE WAS NOT MERELY A MAN OR THE SON OF JOSEPH THE CARPENTER , But the Son of God (Saint Nicodemos the Hagiorite). Also, is that the joy comes FROM THE LIFTING UP AND ASCENT OF OUR NATURE (St. Gregory Palamas), This of course also closely CONNECTED WITH THE ASCENSION OF EVERY PERSON WHO BELIEVES AND IS JOINED TO CHRIST. Thus the Head of our body is on the Throne of God. SO ALSO OUR LIMBS CAN AWAKEN FROM THE SLEEP OF SIN AND BE DEIFIED (THEOSIS).

Christ’s Holy Ascension is the jewel OF ALL THE FEASTS OF THE LORD, THE COMPLETION OF ALL THAT CHRIST DID FOR US, THROUGH THE WORK OF THE DIVINE DISPENSATION. This consummate feast INVITES US TO SPIRITUAL PERFECTION AND FULLNESS , TO PARTICIPATE IN CHRIST’S ASCENSION AND THE EXPERIENCE OF OUR OWN ASCENSION. (Source: The Feasts of the Lord by Metropolitan of Nafpaktos HIEROTHEOS)
________________
“Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!”
– Saint John Chrysostomos
+ + +

With sincere agape in Our Lord’s Divine Ascension,
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George

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