Forty days after Jesus’ Resurrection from the dead, He ascends in triumph to heaven, taking his seat at the right hand of the Father (Mark 16:19, Luke 24:50-52, Acts 1:6-11). In doing so, Jesus culminates his one sacrifice of Calvary in everlasting glory, fulfilling the Old Covenant Day of Atonement/Yom Kippur sacrifices (see Leviticus 16). For Jesus takes not the blood of goats and calves but his own, and he enters into the heavenly sanctuary, not one made by human hands (Hebrews 9:11-14). So He is the high priest of heaven (Hebrews. 8:1-3; catechism of the Catholic Church 662-64, 1137-39), and he always lives to make intercession for us (Hebrews. 7:23-25, 9:23-24).
After his Ascension, Jesus’ one sacrifice is made sacramentally present at every Mass according to the order of Melchizedek, under the forms of bread and wine (Genesis 14:18-20, Hebrews 5:7-10, Matthew 26:26-29, Luke 22:19-20; see CCC 1333, 1355, 1544). The importance of the Ascension is further shown when, despite his glorious resurrection on Easter Sunday, Jesus tells Mary Magdalene not to cling to him, because he has not yet ascended to the heavenly Father (John 20:16-17). The weekdays after Jesus’ Ascension is a time of preparation for the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. |
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