|  | Jesus’ saving work will have a liturgical
consummation. |
| |
|
| | he has still to ascend to the heavenly
Jerusalem, there to celebrate the feast in the true Holy of Holies. |
| |
|
| | his intercession will lead to the Holy Spirit’s descent in fire upon the Church. |
| |
|
| | Expiation is itself a necessary
precondition of our adoption as God’s children. To live that divine life we must receive
the Holy Spirit. To receive the Holy Spirit we must be purified through baptism. |
| |
|
| | In the early Church, as today, Easter
was the normal time for the baptism of adult converts. |
| |
|
| | Saint Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, speaks in
terms of glory that leads to greater glories still, as Ascension leads to Pentecost |
| |
|
| | the Apostles are commissioned to spread—to the whole world,
to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem—at the first Ascension. It’s the good news we
must spread today. |
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|
