Readings for Sunday, June 1 2014. Today is Seventh Sunday of Easter (The Ascension of the Lord)

Reading 1,
Acts 1:12-14

¹² So from the Mount of Olives, as it is called, they went back to Jerusalem, a short distance away, no more than a Sabbath walk;

¹³ and when they reached the city they went to the upper room where they were staying; there were Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas,Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, andJude son of James.

¹⁴ With one heart all these joined constantly in prayer, together with some women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

Responsorial Psalm,
Psalms 27:1, 4, 7-8

¹ [Of David] Yahweh is my light and my salvation, whom should I fear? Yahwehis the fortress of my life, whom should I dread?

⁴ One thing I ask of Yahweh, one thing I seek: to dwell in Yahweh's house all the days of my life, to enjoy the sweetness of Yahweh, to seek out his temple.

⁷ Yahweh, hear my voice as I cry, pity me, answer me!

⁸ Of you my heart has said, 'Seek his face!' Your face, Yahweh, I seek;

Reading 2,
First Peter 4:13-16

¹³ but in so far as you share in the sufferings of Christ, be glad, so that you may enjoy a much greater gladness when his glory is revealed.

¹⁴ If you are insulted for bearing Christ's name, blessed are you, for on you rests the Spirit of God, the Spirit of glory.

¹⁵ None of you should ever deserve to suffer for being a murderer, a thief, a criminal or an informer;

¹⁶ but if any one of you should suffer for being a Christian, then there must be no shame but thanksgiving to God for bearing this name.

Gospel,
John 17:1-11

¹ After saying this, Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said: Father, the hour has come: glorify your Son so that your Son may glorify you;

² so that, just as you have given him power over all humanity, he may give eternal life to all those you have entrusted to him.

³ And eternal life is this: to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

⁴ I have glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do.

⁵ Now, Father, glorify me with that glory I had with you before ever the world existed.

⁶ I have revealed your name to those whom you took from the world to give me. They were yours and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.

⁷ Now at last they have recognised that all you have given me comes from you

⁸ for I have given them the teaching you gave to me, and they have indeed accepted it and know for certain that I came from you, and have believed that it was you who sent me.

⁹ It is for them that I pray. I am not praying for the world but for those you have given me, because they belong to you.

¹⁰ All I have is yours and all you have is mine, and in them I am glorified.

¹¹ I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep those you have given me true to your name, so that they may be one like us.

REFLECTION
SOURCE: One Bread One Body
THEME: THE INCARNATION AND THE CHURCH

"No sooner had He said this than He was lifted up before their eyes in a cloud which took Him from their sight." –Acts 1:9

Jesus' Ascension seemed to have ended our time to benefit from His Incarnation. We could no longer see God face to face, hear Him, and touch Him. However, Jesus had promised that He would not leave us orphaned (Jn 14:18). He would be with us always (Mt 28:20), and it is better for us that He go (Jn 16:7).

Jesus knew that His apostles would not understand His Ascension, so He told them to remain in Jerusalem. Within a few days, they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5). They obeyed the Lord after His Ascension and "returned to Jerusalem filled with joy. There they were to be found in the temple constantly, speaking the praises of God" (Lk 24:52-53). "Together they devoted themselves to constant prayer" (Acts 1:14).

After nine days of prayer, 120 of Jesus' disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:15; 2:4). They baptized 3,000 people that day (Acts 2:41), and the Church was born. This newborn Church eventually came to be recognized as the body of Christ, the continuation and development of Jesus' Incarnation (e.g. 1 Cor 12:12; Eph 1:23).

Pray for nine days (a novena) for the Holy Spirit to come and guide you to all truth (Jn 16:13), especially the truth about His Incarnation and the Church.

PRAYER: Father, I accept Your grace to pray for nine days. Come, Holy Spirit!

PROMISE: "He has put all things under Christ's feet and has made Him, thus exalted, Head of the Church, which is His body: the fullness of Him Who fills the universe in all its parts." –Eph 1:22-23

PRAISE: Alleluia! Jesus is risen, ascended, and glorified! Praise God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit!

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