The Necessity of Prayer: The Seventh Sunday of Easter

                                            The Necessity of Prayer:

The Seventh Sunday of Easter 

May 21, 2023

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Acts 1:12-14; Psalm 27; 1 Peter 4:13-16; John 17:1-11

 

I have heard many people say over the years that the Ascension makes them feel sad because the Disciples, and by extension themselves, are left alone again. We learn the Eleven decide to return to Jerusalem to the upper room where they gathered for Passover to find consolation in one another and to pray together and with some of the women and the family of Jesus. Would you have liked to have been in that room? What was their prayer like? Was it full of sadness or full of hope or both?

 

After forming this novel community around Jesus, they were left without the One who called them together, formed them, and showed them how to live righteously. He helped them discern the moral arguments from Scripture and how to navigate relationships with the state and the Jews from whom they were splitting. And now they had no leader, except for Peter, James, and John. They were told to come together in prayer on behalf of the community. The Gospel passage gives us an indication of the type of praying that was done for the followers of Jesus. It is a “now and not yet” prayer. It is an appeal for immediate protection from hostile forces and a hope that the community will continue to show forth God’s glory in freedom. 

 

This period of prayer of the Disciples is the type of prayer we need for ourselves today – to be united to God through Christ and in the affection of one another. We expect that your priests will pray for the community to be unified, but as the disciples showed us, the people are expected to pray for our whole community, not just those we like or get along with or have the same thoughts that we do. This type of affection is the mirror the love of Christ for us where we build up the community, assist the one in need, and to provide encouragement for those who may lose hope. We are to pass on the love that we received from Jesus to the one who needs to hear it – using whatever language is suitable for the person to hear. 

 

This love has to be real, and it is tested in human interactions and put into practice. It is a love that breaks down ideologies and engenders respect for differences and distinctions. We lose our distinctions when we call ourselves “the People of God” or Christians for this identity takes preeminence over all other affiliations in life. It is a love that is freely given to be freely received, and this love does not try to control or coerce or impose. It is a love that seeks the dignity and well-being of all people, not just the Christians with whom we may associate. It is a magnanimous love that lifts up the hopes of those who see us. It is a love that looks to the unknown future and feels safe. This love is impossible without prayer. That’s why we pray: when we are at the limits of love.

 

          

Scripture for Daily Mass

Monday: (Acts 19) Paul went through the interior of Greece and down to Ephesus to introduce the believers to the Holy Spirit. The community was baptized into the Body of Christ.  

 

Tuesday: (Acts 20) The presbyters at Ephesus summoned Paul, who told them that he was going to an uncertain fate in Jerusalem. Paul recounts the ways he served the Lord with humility, tears, and trials, but imprisonment and hardships await him. 

 

Wednesday: (Acts 20) Paul prays for the whole flock and he prays for them because he knows adversaries will take advantage of Paul’s absence. When Paul finished speaking, the people wept loudly and threw their arms around him and kissed him.  

 

Thursday: (Acts 22) Paul is brought to trial. The Pharisees and Sadducees are sharply divided; armed forces rescue Paul from their midst. The Lord tells Paul he must go to Rome and be faithful there the same way he was faithful in Jerusalem.  

 

Friday (Acts 25) King Agrippa hears Paul’s case and determines that Paul is to be tried in Jerusalem, but Paul, as a Roman citizen, appeals for the Emperor’s decision.  

 

Saturday (Acts 28) When Paul entered Rome, he was allowed to live by himself. He called together the leaders of the Jews to let them know the charges brought against them. He told them his story. He remained for two years in his lodgings and received all who came to him without hindrance as he proclaimed the Kingdom of God.

 

Gospel: 

Monday: (John 16) The disciples realize Jesus is returning to the Father and that he is strengthening them for the time when he will not longer be physically with them.  

 

Tuesday: (John 17) Jesus raises his eyes to heaven and realizes it is time to glorify the Father through his death so he may give eternal life to all that we given to him. He revealed God’s name to them and now it is time to see the glory of God revealed.

 

Wednesday (John 17) Jesus prays for the safety of those given to him. He wants them to be safe as they testify to God’s steadfastness in a harsh world. He prays for unity, “so that they may be one just as we, Father, are one.” 

 

Thursday (John 17) Jesus consecrates them to the truth and wards off the Evil One. He also prays for those given to him through the testimony of others. The love Jesus and the Father share is available to future disciples. 

 

Friday (John 21) After the Farewell Discourse ends, Jesus appears at the seashore with Simon Peter who professes his three-fold love of Jesus. Jesus forgives him and asks him to care for his people even though the authorities of this world will eventually have their day with him. 

 

Saturday (John 21) Peter turns to Jesus and asks about the Beloved Disciple. Jesus retorts, “What if I want him to remain until I come? What concern is it of yours?” This disciple is the one who wrote the testimony about Jesus and can attest to its truth.

 

Saints of the Week

 

May 21: Christopher Magallanes, priest and companions, martyrs (1869-1927) was a Mexican priest who served the indigenous people by forming agrarian communities. He opened seminaries when the ant-Catholic government kept shutting them down. He was arrested and executed with 21 priests and 3 laymen. 

 

May 22: Rita of Cascia, religious (1381-1457), always wanted to become a nun but her family married her off to an abusive man. He was murdered 18 years later. Rita urged forgiveness when her two sons wanted to avenge their father's murder. They soon died too. Rita wanted to enter a convent, but he marital status kept her out. Eventually, the Augustinians in Cascia admitted her. She became a mystic and counselor to lay visitors.

 

May 24: Our Lady of the Way or in Italian, Madonna della Strada, is a painting enshrined at the Church of the Gesu in Rome, the mother church of the Society of Jesus. The Madonna Della Strada is the patroness of the Society of Jesus. In 1568, Cardinal Farnese erected the Gesu in place of the former church of Santa Maria della Strada.  

 

May 25: Bede the Venerable, priest and doctor, (673-735), is the only English doctor of the church. As a child, he was sent to a Benedictine monastery where he studied theology and was ordained. He wrote thorough commentaries on scripture and history as well as poetry and biographies. His famous work is the "Ecclesiastical History of the English People," the source for much of Anglo-Saxon history. 

 

May 25: Gregory VII, pope (1020-1085), was a Tuscan who was sent to a monastery to study under John Gratian, who became Gregory VI. He served the next few popes as chaplain, treasurer, chancellor and counselor before he became Gregory VII. He introduced strong reforms over civil authorities that caused much consternation. Eventually, the Romans turned against him when the Normans sacked Rome.

 

May 25: Mary Magdalene de'Pazzi (1566-1607), a Florentine, chose to become a Carmelite nun instead of getting married. Her biography, written by her confessor, gives accounts of intense bouts of desolation and joy. She is reputed to have gifts of prophecy and healing.

 

May 26: Philip Neri, priest (1515-1595), is known as the "Apostle of Rome." A Florentine who was educated by the Dominicans, he re-evangelized Roe by establishing confraternities of laymen to minister to pilgrims and the sick in hospitals. He founded the Oratorians when he gathered a sufficient following because of his spiritual wisdom. 

 

May 27: Augustine of Canterbury, bishop (d. 604) was sent to England with 40 monks from St. Andrew's monastery to evangelize the pagans. They were well-received. Augustine was made bishop, established a hierarchy, and changed many pagans feasts to religious ones. Wales did not accept the mission; Scotland took St. Andrew's cross as their national symbol. Augustine began a Benedictine monastery at Canterbury and was Canterbury's first archbishop.

 

This Week in Jesuit History

 

• May 21, 1925. Pius XI canonizes Peter Canisius, with Teresa of the Child Jesus, Mary Madeleine Postal, Madeleine Sophie Barat, John Vianney, and John Eudes. Canisius is declared a Doctor of the Church. 
• May 22, 1965. Pedro Arrupe was elected the 28th general of the Society of Jesus. 
• May 23, 1873. The death of Peter de Smet, a famous missionary among Native Americans of the great plains and mountains of the United States. He served as a mediator and negotiator of several treaties. 
• May 24, 1834. Don Pedro IV expelled the Society from Brazil. 
• May 25, 1569. At Rome Pope St Pius V installed the Society in the College of Penitentiaries. Priests of various nationalities who were resident in Rome were required to act as confessors in St Peter's. 
• May 26, 1673. Ching Wei‑San (Emmanuel de Sigueira) dies, the first Chinese Jesuit priest. 
• May 27, 1555. The Viceroy of India sent an embassy to Claudius, Emperor of Ethiopia, hoping to win him and his subjects over to Catholic unity. Nothing came of this venture, but Fr. Goncalvo de Silveira, who would become the Society's first martyr on the Africa soil, remained in the country.