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May 4, 2008

The The Seventh Sunday of Easter: The Sunday after the Ascension

A Note on Today’s Readings

The Seventh Sunday of Easter: The Sunday after Ascension Day—Year A

Welcome to our parish. We begin today the final week of Easter. Last Thursday we celebrated Jesus’ ascension to the Father and his glorification. The Gospel reading today is a portion of the prayer he prayed on the night before his death, in which he consecrated his offering of himself to God, and prayed for us that we might be made part of his offering. In Baptism we have, in fact, received the benefits of that prayer.

When Acts is to be read as the first reading during Eastertide. The reading from the Acts of the Apostles is the beginning of that book. Luke describes Jesus’ ascension and the promise that he would shortly empower his friends with the Holy Spirit. We are told that the disciples, including Jesus’ mother, then spent the remaining days together in prayer waiting for that gift of the Spirit which would come upon them on the Day of Pentecost.

In the passage from 1 Peter we are exhorted to live lives in keeping with our vocation given in Baptism. If we are to suffer, let it be for doing good, not because of wrong-doing. Such righteous suffering deepens our union with Christ. We are already assured by Jesus’ resurrection that no suffering can destroy the eternal life we have been given.

We gather week by week to celebrate the Eucharist. The Ascension reminds us that in the Eucharist Jesus is not made present by being brought down to us, he is present because in the Eucharist we are taken up to where he is. For a moment we are not simply in the world, but we become citizens of the eternal kingdom.

With Ezekiel 39:21-29. Ezekiel brings us God’s account of the salvation of Israel from slavery in Egypt and exile in Babylon. God reminds us of the goodness of that liberation and points us to the liberation that all humanity has received in the death and resurrection of Jesus. The final sign of God’s salvation of old—and our salvation in Christ—is God’s promise to pour out the Holy Spirit on all faithful people.

The reading from the Acts of the Apostles is the beginning of that book. Luke describes Jesus’ ascension and the promise that he would shortly empower his friends with the Holy Spirit. We are told that the disciples, including Jesus’ mother, then spent the remaining days together in prayer waiting for that gift of the Spirit which would come upon them on the Day of Pentecost.

The Collect of the Day

AO God, the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: Do not leave us comfortless, but send us your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to that place where our Savior Christ has gone before; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

First Reading Acts 1:1-14

A Reading from the Acts of the Apostles.

In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. “This,” he said, “is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away. When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.

Psalm 68:1-20 Exsurgat Deus

1Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered; *

let those who hate him flee before him.

2Let them vanish like smoke when the wind drives it away; *

as the wax melts at the fire, so let the wicked perish at

the presence of God.

3But let the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; *

let them also be merry and joyful.

4Sing to God, sing praises to his Name;

exalt him who rides upon the heavens; *

YAHWEH is his Name, rejoice before him!

5Father of orphans, defender of widows, *

God in his holy habitation!

6God gives the solitary a home and brings forth prisoners

into freedom; *

but the rebels shall live in dry places.

7O God, when you went forth before your people, *

when you marched through the wilderness,

8The earth shook, and the skies poured down rain,

at the presence of God, the God of Sinai, *

at the presence of God, the God of Israel.

9You sent a gracious rain, O God, upon your inheritance; *

you refreshed the land when it was weary.

10Your people found their home in it; *

in your goodness, O God, you have made provision

for the poor.

11The Lord gave the word; *

great was the company of women who bore the tidings:

12“Kings with their armies are fleeing away; *

the women at home are dividing the spoils.”

13Though you lingered among the sheepfolds, *

you shall be like a dove whose wings are covered with silver,

whose feathers are like green gold.

14When the Almighty scattered kings, *

it was like snow falling in Zalmon.

15O mighty mountain, O hill of Bashan! *

O rugged mountain, O hill of Bashan!

16Why do you look with envy, O rugged mountain,

at the hill which God chose for his resting place? *

truly, the LORD will dwell there for ever.

17The chariots of God are twenty thousand,

even thousands of thousands; *

the Lord comes in holiness from Sinai.

18You have gone up on high and led captivity captive;

you have received gifts even from your enemies, *

that the LORD God might dwell among them.

19Blessed be the Lord day by day, *

the God of our salvation, who bears our burdens.

20He is our God, the God of our salvation; *

God is the LORD, by whom we escape death.

Second Reading 1 Peter 4:12-19

A Reading from the First letter of Peter.

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory, which is the Spirit of God, is resting on you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, a criminal, or even as a mischief maker. Yet if any of you suffers as a Christian, do not consider it a disgrace, but glorify God because you bear this name. For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God; if it begins with us, what will be the end for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinners?” Therefore, let those suffering in accordance with God’s will entrust themselves to a faithful Creator, while continuing to do good.

Holy Gospel John 17:1-11

Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed. I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.”

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