Jesus ascended into Heaven one time, which was forty days after His Resurrection.   In his Ascension homily in 1979, Pope St. John Paul II said, In the Scripture readings the whole significance of Christ’s Ascension is summarized for us. The richness of this mystery is spelled out in two statements: Jesus gave instructions, and then Jesus took his place. …The instructions indicated, above all, that the Apostles were to wait for the Holy Spirit, who was the gift of the Father. From the beginning, it had to be crystal-clear that the source of the Apostles’ strength is the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who guides the Church in the way of truth; the Gospel is to spread through the power of God, and not by means of human wisdom or strength.The Apostles, moreover, were instructed to teach – to proclaim the Good News to the whole world. And they were to baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Like Jesus, they were to speak explicitly about the Kingdom of God and about salvation. The Apostles were to give witness to Christ to the ends of the earth. The early Church clearly understood these instructions and the missionary era began. And everybody knew that this missionary era could never end until the same Jesus, who went up to Heaven, would come back again.   Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped 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, baptizing 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 lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.” (Matthew 28:16-20) The expression “The Great Commission” is commonly found in Reformation theologies to refer to this command of Christ to the disciples to preach the Gospel to the world. While the expression is not unknown in Catholic usage, it is not commonly used, and typically acquires a different meaning. For non-Catholics it represents a general command to all believers; whereas, for Catholics it constitutes primarily a command to those whom Christ appointed to carrying out His ministry, that is the Apostles, and the successors to their ministry, the bishops. The Catholic understanding follows from the fact that Matthew records the Apostles as the bearers of the obligations and the authority Christ committed to the Church. The text mentions only “the eleven,” that is, the Apostles minus Judas Iscariot. These are those whom Christ chose to take His place as pastors of His flock. This is the context of the command given to them to make disciples and to baptize, and of His promise to remain with them “to the end of the age.” This also corresponds to Christ’s other commitments of authority and responsibility to the Apostles, such as the power of the keys (Mt. 16:13-18 and Mt. 18:8), and the forgiveness of sin (John 20:19-23). Since the Apostles all died, it also presumes that “to the end of the age” others will take their offices after them, as Matthias took that of Judas (Acts 1:15-26). Indeed, everywhere the Apostles went they appointed successors, as Paul appointed Timothy and Titus. In the 2nd century St. Irenaeus of Lyon will list the successors of Peter in the Roman See, in contradistinction to the heretics of his day who can claim no such authority. Christ is also with the Church “to the end of the age” in other ways, as well. However, He is uniquely and most importantly Present in the Holy Eucharist, by means of which His Holy Sacrifice is remembered and made Present, in the gift of Himself in Holy Communion, and by remaining with us in our tabernacles. In all these ways the continuity and unity of Christ’s redemptive ministry is guaranteed until He comes again (cf. John 16:13-15, 17:2-21). All of the disciples except for Judas Iscariot spent the remainder of their lives preaching the Gospel. According to Tradition, Sts. Peter, Andrew, James, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas Thaddeus were all martyred for the faith. After His Resurrection, Jesus foretold Peter’s future martyrdom. [Jesus said], "Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you girded yourself and walked where you would; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish to go.” (This he said to show by what death he was to glorify God). (John 21:18-19) St. John, the disciple who remained with Jesus at the Crucifixion, was the only Apostle to die a natural death – and this in spite of attempts to kill him by boiling him in oil. Judas Iscariot, after betraying Jesus, committed suicide (see Matthew 5 and Acts 1:18).