Ascension is promise of human immortality, Pope tells Sunday audience

CWN - May 21, 2012

At his midday public audience on Sunday, May 20, Pope Benedict XVI spoke about the Ascension, recognizing that the feast of the Ascension is observed on Sunday in many dioceses.

The Ascension, the Pope said, "is the last act of our liberation from the yoke of sin." When Jesus rose into heaven, He completed the work of salvation.

However, by rising Jesus did not distance Himself from mankind, the Pope said. Rather, He drew mankind into intimacy with the Father." The Holy Father cited the words of St. Leo the Great, who said that the feast of the Ascension celebrates "not only the immortality of the should, but also that of the flesh."

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