Christians Commemorate Ascension Day tomorrow

Christians worldwide will tomorrow commemorate the feast of the Ascension of Jesus Christ, also called Ascension Day or Ascension Thursday. It is the day Christians believe in the bodily Ascension of Jesus into heaven. In Cameroon, the day will be marked by special church services to celebrate the liturgical of the Ascension of Jesus Christ. The Ascension Day is a universal Christian feast which according to the Parish Priest of the Saints Peter and Paul Parish, Simbock, Yaounde, Rev Father Giles Ngwa, is believed that Jesus was taken up to heaven forty days after His Resurrection. The biblical book of Acts 1:9-11 states, inter alia “And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.” The day is of great importance to Disciples of Christ worldwide, as they joyfully celebrate the final Glorification of Jesus after His suffering, death and resurrection. The Priest further revealed that the significance of the event to the followers of Jesus Christ is derived from their belief in the glorification and exaltation of Jesus following his dead and resurrection as well as in His return to the Father. Father Giles Ngwa says the day also foreshadows the final event in salvation history, that is, Jesus’ personal, physical and glorious return to the father. The Ascension of Jesus is an evidence of Jesus’ true identity as God and fulfils what he foretold about himself; that He will return to the Father and also a step towards the fulfilment of the promise of sending the advocate; the Holy Spirit, as recorded in the book of John 16: 7-16. As such, 10 days after, on Pentecost Sunday, the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles.

According to another Priest, Litika Laisin Frankline, the day is an oppor- tunity ...