GOSPEL COMMUNION: Ascension

May 21, 2020: Ascension Day (in those places where the solemnity is not transferred)
or
May 24, 2020 (when transferred to the 7th Sunday of Easter)

The Collegeville Composers opted for an antiphon derived from John 16:22:

So you also are now in anguish. But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.

We do indeed “see God again” in Holy Communion and our hearts rejoice in it. The canticle verses — from John 14, 15, 16, Rev 1 and Acts 1 — are taken from the communion antiphons for the days between Ascension and Pentecost: we will not be left as orphans, and we look forward to the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost. Assemblies seem to enjoy especially singing the twofold alleluia at the end of the antiphon.