God’s New Creation is Perfected in Pentecost.

Of all the Old Testament festivals, two have become major solemnities in the Church. The first is Passover (Pascha or Easter) and the second is Pentecost (Shavuot, meaning Weeks and is the Festival of The Law, The Torah) established when God gave Moses the Law at Mt. Sinai and celebrated 50 days (7x7).

We celebrate today the Solemnity of the Lord’s Ascension. After Jesus resurrected from the dead, He appeared to the disciples in His glorified body with His precious wounds in His hands, feet and side. Jesus proved that He was not a ghost by having them put their hands into the nail marks and into the wound in His side and He ate in their presence. As the Apostles Creed says:
“He ascended into Heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from there He will come to judge the living and the dead...”

God desires that we give Him all of our love and adoration.

In the first reading, there is something most impressive about St. Peter as reflected by how he has clearly grasped what Christ meant when He instructed His followers to “Love one another, as I have loved you.” Jesus did not say “I love you as a mother loves a child,” and He did not say, “I love you the way a husband loves his wife.” If we know Jesus, we understand that He is filled with wisdom, truth, holiness, devotion, sacrifice, power and many other traits. Yet, He chooses to summarize it for us quite simply by saying, “As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love.”