Halloween, All Souls, All Saints
In the Acts of the Apostles, the disciples, when they had gathered together, asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel? He answered them, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. When he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight.”
Just as in the Old Testament, Elijah was taken up into Heaven in the whirlwind with a chariot of fire, so now in the New Testament is Jesus taken up into that same Heaven. In the words of Pope Benedict XVI, “The Lord opening the way to Heaven gives us a foretaste of divine life on earth.”
In other words, while Jesus is no longer physically with us as a human being following His ascension into Heaven, he has left us with the ability to live within his divine life through his Church which we see dwelt first with the disciples and their witness down to all of us today as active partakers in Jesus’ divine life through the sacramental life of the Church. Jesus also promised to leave us with his Holy Spirit who the apostles first received at Pentecost—the feast of which we will be celebrating soon. The celebration of Pentecost also officially ends the Easter season by ushering us back into Ordinary Time. As we prepare to re-enter ordinary time, let the ascension of Jesus remind you of the reality of Heaven and the need to daily follow in Jesus’ footsteps so as to one day follow him all the way up into Heaven. We are also reminded of the need to trust not in our own understanding, as the disciples did to which Jesus’ response, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons.” Let us daily love, trust, and grow in wisdom as the Holy Spirit—sent to be with us by Jesus—enables us to accomplish.
About the Author:
Avila Rose (Allison Ramirez) is a Catholic author, editor, and teacher. She received her B.A in English with Creative Writing emphasis from Seattle Pacific University in 2019. She recently received her M.A. in Theology with Church History emphasis from Holy Apostles College & Seminary in 2024. She currently serves as the Pastoral Assistant for Faith Formation at St. Barbara Parish, and she is the author of The Divided Kingdom series as well as nonfiction devotional journal, Breathe Deeply: The Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary as Invitations to Peace. Allison and her husband, Nathan, reside in Washington State with their pug pup, Leo.
You can connect with Allison through her Substack newsletter at https://authorallisonramirez.substack.com/p/welcome. She can also be found on her website at www.author-allison-ramirez.com or Instagram at authorallisonramirez.