Why do most dioceses transfer the feast of the Ascension from Thursday to the following Sunday?
Ascension Thursday is a holy day of obligation, requiring Mass attendance for all Catholics. Luke’s time frame in the Acts of the Apostles assigns the Ascension to forty days after Easter, with Pentecost occurring ten days later. With Pentecost always celebrated on a Sunday, ten days before places the Ascension on a Thursday.
A weekday is often not conducive for most people to attend Mass for various reasons. Acknowledging such a modern day reality and wishing not to minimize the solemnity of the feast, the United States bishops requested Pope John Paul II’s approval to transfer the feast to the following Sunday in accordance with canon 1246.2 of The Code of Canon Law. It states that “with prior approval of the Apostolic See, however, the conference of bishops can suppress some of the holy days of obligation or transfer them to a Sunday.”
With the Vatican’s approval, the US bishops, on November 16, 1998, allowed the bishops of each ecclesiastical province in the United States to determine whether the solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord would be transferred to the Seventh Sunday of Easter in their ecclesiastical province. The ecclesiastical provinces of Boston, Hartford, New York, Newark, Philadelphia, and Nebraska have retained the celebration of the Ascension of the Lord on Thursday. All other provinces have transferred this solemnity to the Seventh Sunday of Easter.
No matter when Ascension is celebrated in your diocese, become attuned to the feast’s meaning and significance.
©2009 Liturgical Publications Inc, New Berlin, WI 53151
Used with permission
