Dear Friends,

We are currently betwixt Easter and Pentecost. You may have heard of each of those festivals perhaps being more familiar with Easter! However, in between Easter and Pentecost there is the Ascension. This special day records the moment when we talk about Jesus being raised to heaven. He has spent 40 days being risen and reassuring his disciples, helping them to understand that their connection to him is changing. Before Easter, Jesus was with them in a geographical, physical and timely way, but after the resurrection he is with them in new ways such as in the stories where he suddenly appears! It reminds me of the game we used to pay with our little ones ‘peekaboo!’

The Ascension is the moment when Jesus is raised up to be with His Father. From this moment, Jesus is no longer steadfastly visible as himself. Jesus goes, or if you like disappears so that the disciples can get on with the things that Jesus has taught them. He is giving them responsibility and authority to go out and be the good news to their communities. This is our commission too. As baptised believers we are to be good news to our communities. But community doesn’t begin and end when the village stops, the community might be the church, or the school, your social groups or your workplace. The Ascension reminds us that Jesus has gone to be with His Father, but we are empowered to be the hands and feet, the heart and voice of Jesus to the people we meet and the places we belong to. And, as we encounter one another may we also encounter Christ in our midst through the loving actions, kind words and thoughtfulness of each other.

Grace and peace,

Rev’d Caroline