On this Seventh Sunday of Easter we hear in the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles that after Jesus Ascended into heaven, the apostles and others (Mary and some of Jesus’ relatives) returned to Jerusalem in anticipation of the coming Advocate, the Paraclete as promised by Jesus. We are told that they waited in prayer, with a desire in their hearts for the coming Advocate who would lead them to “all Truth and remind them of all that Jesus had told them.” Scripture scholars tell us that the listing the names of the 11 Apostles, minus Judas, is important since they differ in order from Luke’s Gospel listing which might mean a new importance or leadership of some in the group. To-day’s reading lists them as Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer, together with some women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

In this reading we are told of the importance of the Apostles and disciples of Jesus Christ to wait in prayer for the coming of the Holy Spirit, and so we too—His disciples—are called to wait together in prayer for the gifts of the Holy Spirit; this waiting as a community of believers is the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church on earth. In Eucharistic Prayer Two we hear Jesus’ declaratory statement about our public prayer at Mass, “Do This In Memory of Me.” No suggestion or guidance, but rather a command to be with Christ in prayer through the universal
celebration of the Mass.

In today’s second reading from 1 Peter (4:13-16) we are told of the power of suffering in Christ. In fact, the Almanac for Pastoral Liturgy tells us that “Sharing in the sufferings of Christ as a result of Christian living and action is to be a cause for joy. In doing so, we can rely on the Spirit who rests upon those who are blessed through such suffering.” Last weekend we heard that we are to “Be and Become” through the power of the Holy Spirit, both the resting place and temple of His Holy Spirit and then so transformed into the works of Christ in-and-through our Christian living. Again, in Eucharistic Prayer Two we also hear “Thank you for counting us worthy to be in Your Presence and Ministering to You.” We minister to the God we cannot see by the power of the Holy Spirit and how we minister in faith to those in need around us—feeding the poor, sheltering the homeless, teaching the ignorant, praying for the forgotten, and caring for the sick.

In the Gospel of John (17: 1-11a) for today we hear the final prayer of Jesus before His Passion focuses on His union with the Father, the disciples’ union with the Father through Him, and the true meaning of eternal life: knowing the only true God and the one whom He sent, Jesus Christ. Listen to these words: "I revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world. They
belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you gave me is from you, because the words you gave to me I have given to them, and they accepted them and truly understood that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me. I pray for them.” “Christ prays for all who belong to the Him, those who keep His words, accept them, understand their origin with the Father, and believe that Christ has been sent by the Father. Jesus is glorified by those who are His own, who remain His beyond His Death, Resurrection and Ascension.” And that would be you, His modern-day disciples who live out their faith in family by passing on His faith and teachings, in their communities by
caring for those less fortunate and praying for those who are unwell, and by extending the boundaries of faith to those who know no better.

To reiterate from last weekend, as we just celebrated the Ascension of the Lord this past Thursday ( a holy day of obligation) in the Archdiocese of Hartford and her whole Province or Metropolitan (the Dioceses of Norwich, Bridgeport, and Providence) when Christ promised that He would send the Holy Spirit into us so that we are able to Be and Become both transformed personally by the Spirit and so become the Church or Mystical Body of Christ on earth not just so that we are able, with gifts and talents, to serve God in His Church but that we will have the desire to serve God, to make the Lord a priority in our lives and so He becomes the prime mover or motivator in our words and actions, formed by the Word of God, nourished by the Sacraments of the Church, and led to all Truth by the Holy Spirit. What a wonderful antidote to the world today and the culture in which we live, where hatred, darkness, evil and indifference become the prime mover for far too many. Enough said, lets now pray.