Why Do Catholics ...?

Why do Catholics celebrate the Ascension of the Lord as a solemnity?

Solemnities are the highest-ranking holy days in the Roman liturgical calendar and are usually reserved for the most important mysteries of faith, including the Ascension of the Lord. New Advent’s Catholic Encyclopedia explains the Ascension celebrates “the completion of the work of our salvation, the pledge of our glorification with Christ and his entry into heaven with our human nature glorified.”

As the Catechism explains: “Christ’s ascension marks the definitive entrance of Jesus’ humanity into God’s heavenly domain, whence he will come again (Acts 1:11).

“Jesus Christ, the head of the Church, precedes us into the Father’s glorious kingdom so that we, the members of his body, may live in the hope of one day being with him forever” (665-667).

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Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki of Cologne attends a German Synodal Way assembly on March 9, 2023.

Four German Bishops Resist Push to Install Permanent ‘Synodal Council’

Given the Vatican’s repeated interventions against the German process, the bishops said they would instead look to the Synod of Bishops in Rome. Meanwhile, on Monday, German diocesan bishops approved the statutes for a synodal committee; and there are reports that the synodal committee will meet again in June.

Palestinian Christians celebrate Easter Sunday Mass at Holy Family Church in Gaza City on March 31, amid the ongoing battles Israel and the Hamas militant group.

People Explain ‘Why I Go to Mass’

‘Why go to Mass on Sundays? It is not enough to answer that it is a precept of the Church. … We Christians need to participate in Sunday Mass because only with the grace of Jesus, with his living presence in us and among us, can we put into practice his commandment, and thus be his credible witnesses.’ —Pope Francis