5.27.25 - Creation | Genesis 1 | The Ascension

Opening Prayer:

Lord, we thank you for your promise that where two or more gather in your name, You are there! 

Today as we study the Ascension and the Creation story today and can’t help but see the connection

between the First Creation and a New Creation ushered in by your Ascension.  

We humbly ask for your grace and wisdom tonight as we delve into the study of Your Word. 

As you taught us to pray together:

Our Father

Who art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name.

Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.

Give us this day our daily Bread;

And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen.

The Ascension of the Lord, Acts 1:1-11 and Luke 24:46-53

Context  

This Thursday (also celebrated Sunday) marks forty days after Jesus’ resurrection when we celebrate his Ascension into Heaven.  You may have noticed that we profess our faith in this mystery when we say in the Nicene Creed: 

He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

To say “seated at God’s right hand” is figurative (God doesn’t have a right hand), but it is at the same time meaningful because “seating at the right hand” signifies the inauguration of the Messiah’s kingdom, prophesied by Daniel’s vision concerning the Son of Man (Dan 7:14). The other, not-so-figurative reference is that Christ’s ascension marks the definitive entrance of Jesus’s humanity into the life of the Trinity. Jesus Christ, as the head of the Church, precedes us into the Kingdom so that we, the members of his Body, may one day follow Him there. 

“I go to prepare a way for you… so that where I am you may be also.”  John 14:3

During the 40 days between the Resurrection and Ascension, Jesus appeared at different times to the Apostles and over 500 disciples. What is significant about the number 40?

In the Bible, forty refers to some combination of testing, purification, preparation, and consecration. We see 40 days/nights of rain during the flood (Noah), 40 days Moses spent on Mt. Sinai, the Israelite spies spent 40 days scouting the promised land (and failed the test), the Israelites spent 40 years in the wilderness (Exodus), Jesus spent 40 days being tested in the desert after his baptism, and now 40 days between the Resurrection and Ascension. For the Apostles and the Church, this was a time of edification and preparation for the coming of the Holy Spirit in 10 more days (Pentecost).  

“He led them out to Bethany where the Ascension takes place.” Where is Bethany?

From the Upper Room to Bethany was about 2.5 miles. 

How many people were present for the Ascension?

While the Bible does not explicitly state how many witnessed the Ascension, one can conclude from various parts of Scripture that about 120 people were present. These include the Apostles and disciples as well as Mary and the other women following Christ. Some traditions say that the number was larger. – Catechism of Christian Doctrine, BaltCatechism.  

Acts 1:1-10

In the first book, Theophilus, I dealt with all that Jesus did and taught until the day he was taken up,after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.

He presented himself alive to them by many proofs after he had suffered, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

While meeting with them, he enjoined them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for “the promise of the Father about which you have heard me speak; for John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

When they had gathered together they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

He answered them, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

When he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight.While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them.

They said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.”

Exegesis/Interpretation

“In the first book, Theophilus” – What is the “first book” and who is Theophilus?

Luke wrote the Acts of the Apostles after he wrote the Gospel of Luke, the Gospel of Luke was the “first book.”  “Theophilus” is translated as “lover of God,” in which case the book of Acts is addressed to all of us. But it is also possible that somebody had that name, in which case it could have been some important friend or Christian benefactor. 

Jesus tells them not to leave Jerusalem. Why?

The Holy Spirit will be coming to them in 10 days, called the “Pentecost” (means 50 days). Notice the presence of the Trinity again. Jesus is departing back to the Father and sending them the Holy Spirit. 

The Apostles asked Jesus, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” Why?

The Apostles may still be thinking the Messianic Kingdom will involve a political fulfillment like the David’s Kingdom and liberation from their Roman oppressors. But they may also be thinking is Jesus’ prophesy concerning the completion of His mission in the "coming of the Son of Man." But this part of the mission won’t be completed until His Second Coming.  

Jesus was taken up into Heaven. Where exactly did he go?

The Jews in the Old Testament believed there were 2 or 3 heavens. The first heaven was the sky we see. The second heaven was where the sun, moon, and stars were. The third heaven was where God and the angels lived. 

Why is Jesus’ Ascension theologically important?

Jesus’ mission was not completed until he offered his sacrificed body to the Father in place of humans. That is why he carried his wounds with him. This made his sacrifice on earth spiritually eternal, which is why his sacrifice continues to forgive our sins to this day. The sacrifice of the Mass is not a new sacrifice – it’s now the same eternal one – but the fruits of his sacrifice – our forgiveness – continues on.  The Ascension eternalized the Last Supper into what is now the Mass. 

The angels said, “This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.” What are they referring to?

The angels told the disciples that Jesus will return to the Mt. of Olives in his Second Advent. It is a return that is prophesied in Zechariah 14:4-9. This also takes place in John's vision in Revelation 21:1-22:5 about the end of the Age of Man and the return of Christ. 

Final Reflection on the Ascension  

With the onset of the Enlightenment Age in the 17th Century, almost everyone (Europe and the Americas) was Christian. The rise of science was like the Tower of Babel all over again, where man was so smart he didn’t feel the need for God anymore. It was as though when Jesus ascended into Heaven, he went up, up, and away to a place out of sight and out of mind forever. Deism became the fad, and even Thomas Jefferson had his own Bible where he cut out all the miracles and just treated Jesus as another wise man. But, just as God renewed people’s faith after the Tower of Babel through Abraham, Christianity went to work and sharpened its skills to confront this latest challenge and rebounded. In the last decade alone, the number of Catholic podcasts, study programs, and apologetics has flourished like never before, i.e., Catholic Answers. Word on Fire, St. Paul Institute for Biblical Studies, Hallow App, Institute for Catholic Culture, Pints with Aquinas, Bible in a Year, etc.  

Still, many Christians tend to read the Ascension along the old enlightenment lines, as if Christ has gone off to a distant, irrelevant place. The point is this: Jesus, in ascending into Heaven, has not gone away.  Instead, he has gone to Heaven to direct operations more fully here on earth. He not only did not abandon earth but everything he ever did was precisely to prepare for his return in order to bring about the full reconciliation of Heaven and earth. In the meantime, he has commissioned his followers to begin that work through the Church he began, the Apostles and Bishops, and the Holy Spirit. 

How do we enter into the story?

We are the reason for Jesus coming. We are the reason the Apostles were chosen, the Church was started, and the Holy Spirit was sent. They were sent to US and for US. 

How are we connected? 

Jesus’s strategy was full-throttled. He has not only connected us through the Church he started, but in the Mystical 

Body of Himself  He gives us in the Mass, the Sacraments by which He gives us grace and forgiveness, and the Holy Spirit he sent to live in us, guide us, and comfort us.  

Conclusion:  As I stated in the beginning, this world is not our permanent destination. Man was made for God, for Heaven. That is our destination, our home. Although we went astray, Jesus’ Ascension is the beginning of our going home.  

“You made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” – St. Augustine, AD 420

CREATION STORY, Genesis 1

Do Catholics believe that Genesis 1 – the Creation Story – is literal?   

The Church does not hold to the literal interpretation of the Creation Story in Genesis One, but it does hold to its absolute truth in the figurative sense. St. Augustine said as much already in the 5th century. The Bible was not written to be a science or history book, but a faith and salvation book. 

The Church says that prior to Abraham ~2000 BC (the late Stone Age), stories in the Bible may or may not have literally happened, but the truth conveyed by them is both accurate and inspired by the Holy Spirit. Some stories are like Jesus’ parables (i.e., Job), where the truth is not on the surface but below it. For the most part, many stories are both – a combination of allegory and literal.   

Just to be perfectly clear, the Catholic Church is compatible with science. The Church helped to create universities in the Middle Ages and has always encouraged the sciences. The Vatican even has its own observatory and some of the most famous scientists in history were Catholic, include Newton and Fr. Lemaitre, who developed the theory of the Big Bang. 

Catholics believe that science is the investigation of God’s physical creation – a beautiful thing. However, the Church does warns against “scientism” where science seeks to replace God and every effort is employed to rule out His existence. “Scientism” is when science becomes its own religion. Let us never forget that the definition of science is the study of the physical universe, and therefore it has no means by which to measure or evaluate anything of a spiritual nature.  

          Albert Einstein with Fr. Georges Lemaitre (Big Bang Theory)

CREATION STORY, Genesis 1

According to tradition and Scripture, the first five books starting with Genesis were first written by Moses during his 40 years in the wilderness. They were added to by Joshua and others over time, but the majority is by Moses and all of it is considered inspired by the Holy Spirit. 

The story of creation happens over 7 days (symbolically the perfect number), but it symbolizes the creation of the universe over much longer periods of time. For ease of our study, I highlighted each “day” in green and the key created component of that day in yellow. 

Genesis, Chapter I 

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, with darkness was over the abyss; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters.  And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.  God saw that the light was good and then separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” Evening came, and morning followed—the first day.

And God said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, to separate the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and it separated the water below the firmament from the water above the firmament. And it was so. God called the firmament Sky.  Evening came, and morning followed—the second day.

And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear." And it was so. God called the dry land Earth and the waters he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. 

Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit with its seed in it. And it was so.  The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit with its seed in it. God saw that it was good. Evening came, and morning followed—the third day.

Dry Land, Seas, Vegetation

Then God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the sky to separate the day from the night; let them mark the seasons, the days and the years, and the lights in the firmament to illuminate the earth. And it was so. And God made the two great lights, the greater to govern the day, and the lesser one to govern the night, and the stars. God set them in the firmament to illuminate the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good. Evening came, and morning followed—the fourth day.

Then God said, "Let the waters teem with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the firmament of the sky. God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves within the waters according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. God saw that it was good, and God blessed them, saying: Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the water of the seas; and let the birds multiply on the earth. Evening came, and morning followed—the fifth day.

Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth every kind of living creature: cattle, creeping things, and beasts of the earth according to their kinds. And it was so. God made the beasts of the earth according to their kind, the cattle according to their kinds, and everything that creeps along the ground according to its kind. God saw that it was good. 

Then God said: Let us make human beings in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion (authority) over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, all the animals and the creatures that crawl upon the earth. So God created mankind in his own image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

God blessed them and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue (govern) it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that crawl on the earth. God also said: See, I give you every seed-bearing plant on all the earth and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit on it to be your food; and to all the beast on the earth, all the birds of the air, and all the living creatures that crawl on the earth, I give all the green plants for food. And it was so. God saw everything he had made, and behold, it very good. Evening came, and morning followed—the sixth day.

So far, Gen 1 tells us that God has brought an orderly universe out of the abyss (out of nothing) merely by speaking His Word. 

Now let’s consider another way that Creation that was given to Moses. There is a literary structure (logic) in the six days where the creation events of the first three days give way to the creative events in the second three days.

             Days 1-3: God gives form to the formless    🡪   Days 4-6: God fills the void with moving/living things

               First Instant                       Days 1-3                                               Days 4-6

   Abyss/Darkness           1. Light /darkness                 🡪           4. Stars/sun/moon

   Watery Abyss               2. Arrangement of water    🡪            5. Fish and birds from waters

              Formless Earth             3. Dry land, vegetation        🡪            6. Animals, human beings

The Presence of the Trinity in Genesis One

1. GOD the Father.  I think we can agree God is present all throughout Chapter One.

2. Where is The Holy Spirit?

Gen 1:1-2. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, with darkness was over the abyss; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters.  

Remember the Creed: 

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life. (ex. The conception of Jesus)

           The Spirit hovering over the waters reminds one of a mother hen about to hatch new life. 

3. Where is the 2nd Person of the Trinity (Logos, Word, Jesus Christ)?

           Hint: remember the first verses of the Gospel of John… 

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things came to be through Him, and without Him nothing came to be… And the word became flesh and dwelt among us – Jn 1:1-3,14.

           Every time “God said” (let there be light, etc.), He was creating through his Son, the “Word.”  (Ten times in Ch 1.)   

4. Finally, in verse 1:26, it says, “God said: Let us make human beings in our image, after our likeness.”

Conclusion of Chapter One:  This brings us to the end of Chapter One, but notice we haven’t seen the 7th day yet. 

Chapter 2 will tell us about the 7th day and also begin a deep dive into the human being.  Chapter 3: The FALL. 

Questions

Closing Prayer

O Lord Jesus Christ, we honor You on the feast of Your Ascension into heaven. We rejoice with all our hearts 

at the glory into which You entered, to reign as King of heaven and earth. You have ascended on high for 

our salvation, and we thank and praise You with tender hearts.

Guide us in our earthly tasks, and help us realize our true human fulfillment 

So that we, too, may follow Your lead into the life of the Trinity.

Glory be to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be

World without end. Amen

Ron meets Bishop Robert Baron in Rome during the Conclave

Ron meets Bishop Robert Baron in Rome during the Conclave