The Bishops' Conference of Scotland

Christ’s Ascension marks the fulfilment of His victory over death. Forty days after Easter, the risen Lord returns to the Father, taking with Him the human nature He assumed for our salvation. Seated now at the right hand of the Father, Christ reigns over heaven and earth, opening the way for humanity to share in His glory.

During the forty days after the Resurrection, the disciples’ faith was strengthened. Having witnessed Christ’s suffering, death, and burial, they struggled at first with fear and doubt. Yet through His appearances to them, the Lord transformed their uncertainty into unshakable faith. By the time of the Ascension, the apostles were no longer sorrowful but filled with joy and hope.

The Ascension is not simply Christ departing from the earth; it is the exaltation of human nature itself. In Christ, humanity has been raised above the heavens and brought close to the throne of God. As St Leo the Great teaches, where the Head has gone, the Body is called to follow. Christ ascends not for Himself alone but for the whole Church.

Through baptism, we are united to Christ and become members of His Body. His triumph becomes our triumph, His inheritance our inheritance. The Ascension reminds us that our true home is with God and that, even now, we are called to live with our hearts fixed on heaven.

Christ Himself assures us: “I go to prepare a place for you.” Our task, then, is to remain united to Him through faith, prayer, the sacraments, and life within His Church. The more deeply we remain in Christ, the more confidently we can hope to share one day in the glory of His Ascension.

Gospel
Matthew 28:16-20
‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.’

At that time: The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshipped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’

Holy Mass of the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima | 13 May 2026
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Between 13 May and 13 October 1917, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared six times to three shepherd children near Fatima in Portugal: Francisco and Jacinta Marto, and their cousin Lucia dos Santos. The apparitions took place at the Cova da Iria, near the town of Fatima, around 110 miles north of Lisbon.

During these apparitions, Our Lady called for prayer, penance, and conversion. She asked especially for the daily praying of the Rosary for peace in the world, for the end of the First World War, for sinners, and for the conversion of Russia. Her message was one of hope, repentance, and trust in God.

Mary entrusted the children with three secrets. After the deaths of Francisco and Jacinta in 1919 and 1920, Lucia later revealed the first two secrets. The first concerned devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, while the second included a vision of hell and a call to prayer and sacrifice for the salvation of souls. Lucia eventually entered the Carmelite order and lived a long life of prayer until her death in 2005 at the age of 97.

In the year 2000, at the direction of Pope Saint John Paul II, the Vatican revealed the third secret. It described a vision of a “bishop dressed in white” who suffers persecution and is shot by soldiers. Many associated this with the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II in St Peter’s Square on 13 May 1981, a date the Pope himself closely linked to the protection and intercession of Our Lady of Fatima.

Devotion to Our Lady of Fatima spread rapidly throughout the world. The apparitions were officially approved by the local bishop in 1930, and in 2002 the memorial of Our Lady of Fatima was added to the General Roman Calendar of the Church.