Acts 1:12-14 1^st      Peter 4:13-16      John 17:1-11a

In dioceses in the USA where The Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord is observed two Thursdays before Pentecost, then these lessons will be proclaimed on the Seventh Sunday of the Easter Season, between Ascension and Pentecost. Some decades ago, the Solemn Feast of the Ascension was officially transferred to the Seventh Sunday of Easter in many dioceses in the USA (and in some other countries) so that the greatest possible number of Catholics could indeed observe it with the level of liturgical festivity and dignity it deserves. Given the harsh climate of employment and unemployment, making ends meet, and the sheer stress of survival, this liturgical move was one of great practical compassion. Congratulations to all those churches where Ascension is observed on the Seventh Sunday of Easter!

John’s Gospel’s passage for today consists of the opening lines of what is known by custom as Jesus’ Priestly Prayer. John’s Gospel places this in that period of instruction and encouragement by Jesus immediately after he has washed the disciples’ feet at the Last Supper. His humble example made genuine service to others an absolutely necessary part of Eucharist and of ministry. Ministerial service is a sine qua non of Gospel life. Today’s prayer follows three chapters of further encouragement and instruction by Jesus even while he is very well aware that “the hour has come,” i.e., the hour for him to be arrested, made to suffer and die, and to rise by God’s good love and Spirit. Jesus’ priestly prayer is chiefly his reporting to God as Father that he has faithfully done God’s will and is commending to God all his disciples. His love and concern for both God and his disciples is extraordinary for one who knows that his life will likely end by undeserved violence over the next day. His presence of mind, his peacefulness, his composure – these are hallmarks of true Gospel faith and the most profound trust in a just and loving God. They are described frequently in the historical and legendary accounts of many of the Christian martyrs in the centuries to follow, and even in the lives of non-Christian heroes who lived lives of justice, compassion and truthfulness. Jesus prayed for them and for us! Likewise, so must our concern and compassion be for each other and for all others!

The reading from Acts describes the community of disciples who went from the experience of the Ascension of the Risen Jesus to the safety of an “upper room” in Jerusalem to re-group and to re-think “What to do?” Pilgrims who go to Jerusalem in our modern era are frequently shown “the upper room” by tour guides, but we must understand that in 70 AD and then again about 135 AD, the entire city of Jerusalem was destroyed and effectively obliterated. Where ever that “upper room” actually was, and whatever it actually looked like, and whatever contents in did contain, were lost entirely to history except in the memory of the early Christians. From that early Christian memory “the upper room” merited a place in the fond recollections of Christian believers about how and where the Church became public. Notice that the Twelve had been reduced to Eleven, plus Jesus’ mother, and some other men and women. This text is the original scriptural setting from which evolved the custom of a Novena of Prayer before Pentecost, i.e., nine days of prayer, counting from a Thursday observance of the Ascension, i.e., on the second Thursday before Easter. This is a devotional prayer time between Jesus’ departure and the Holy Spirit’s public descent and conferral upon those disciples asking, “Lord, what do we do now?” Their religious, emotional and intellectual states are considered, by pious tradition, to be states of extreme stress, stunned wonderment, profound doubt and questioning, walking confusion and dazedness. Only the Pentecost Experience would change this, but that is not in the story yet. These troubled disciples spent much of their time in prayer during those “in between” days. Their collective example of devoting themselves with one accord to prayer is part of the Church’s spiritual tradition ever since that earliest moment of Easter faith, both for lay Christians and for those who embrace religious community life. In any event, prayer was then, and is now, crucial. Jesus’ Priestly Prayer falls into that same tradition, particularly in commending each other to God’s great love.

Our final excerpt in this Easter Season from the 1^st Letter of Peter is a practical encouragement to those early Gentile Christians in Asia Minor to endure and glory in the persecution they endured for the Gospel. Suffering for its own sake is useless. Neither is suffering deserved punishment very noble. But, enduring suffering and recriminations undeservedly, merely because of their fidelity to the Risen Christ and his Gospel message, and out of love for the Church fellowship – this was suffering as Jesus suffered. As Paul phrased it, to “glory in the Cross of our Lord, Jesus Christ!” There has been, ever since Jesus’ preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, a direct and necessary connection between being a disciple and embracing the cross in one’s active life. This lengthy Easter Season is a time of remembrance that the glory of God’s love and salvation far outweighs any temporary suffering and travail in this life.

Christ is Risen! He is truly Risen! Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and enkindle in us the fire of your divine love!