June 2022

Hello Friends, As I write this, I’m preparing for our celebration of the Feast of the Ascension. This major feast
day doesn’t get a lot of attention these days, because it always falls on a Thursday. The opening chapter
of the Acts of the Apostles sets the timeline.


Forty days after the resurrection, Luke tells us, Jesus led his disciples (only eleven at this time)
out to Bethany. He “opens their minds” to understand what everything they’ve been taught and experi-
enced says about who Jesus is. He then tells them to return to Jerusalem and wait to be “clothed with
power from on high.” Then, as he blesses them, he is taken up into the heavens.


Just then, a couple of messengers appear, wondering why the disciples are just standing there
gazing up into the sky. Well, duh! If a companion of mine suddenly disappeared into the clouds while
we were standing and talking, I would probably find it impossible to stop doing a bit of sky-gazing myself.


click here to continue reading at our June Epistle