sunday 24 May 2020
SEVENTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
Psalter III
Blessed Louis-Zépherin Moreau
(1824 – 1901)
White
Entrance Antiphon: Ps 26: 7-9
O Lord, hear my voice, for I have called to you; of you my heart has spoken: Seek his face; hide not your face from me, alleluia.
Collect
Graciously hear our supplications, O Lord, so that we, who believe that the Saviour of the human race is with you in your glory, may experience, as he promised, until the end of the world, his abiding presence among us. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
First reading: Acts 1:12-14
After Jesus was taken up into heaven the apostles went back from the Mount of Olives, as it is called, to Jerusalem, a short distance away, no more than a sabbath walk; 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, and Jude son of James. All these joined in continuous prayer, together with several women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
Psalm 26(27):1,4,7-8
R/ I am sure I shall see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living.
- The Lord is my light and my help; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; before whom shall I shrink?
- There is one thing I ask of the Lord, for this I long, to live in the house of the Lord, all the days of my life, to savour the sweetness of the Lord, to behold his temple.
- O Lord, hear my voice when I call; have mercy and answer. Of you my heart has spoken: ‘Seek his face.’
Second reading: 1 Peter 4:13-16
If you can have some share in the sufferings of Christ, be glad, because you will enjoy a much greater gladness when his glory is revealed. It is a blessing for you when they insult you for bearing the name of Christ, because it means that you have the Spirit of glory, the Spirit of God resting on you. None of you should ever deserve to suffer for being a murderer, a thief, a criminal or an informer; but if anyone of you should suffer for being a Christian, then he is not to be ashamed of it; he should thank God that he has been called one.
Gospel Acclamation: Jn14:18
Alleluia, alleluia! I will not leave you orphans, says the Lord; I will come back to you, and your hearts will be full of joy. Alleluia!
Gospel: John 17:1-11
Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said: ‘Father, the hour has come: glorify your Son so that your Son may glorify you; and, through the power over all mankind that you have given him, let him give eternal life to all those you have entrusted to him. And eternal life is this: to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I have glorified you on earth and finished the work that you gave me to do. Now, Father, it is time for you to glorify me with that glory I had with you before ever the world was. I have made your name known to the men you took from the world to give me. They were yours and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now at last they know that all you have given me comes indeed from you; for I have given them the teaching you gave to me, and they have truly accepted this, that I came from you, and have believed that it was you who sent me. I pray for them; I am not praying for the world but for those you have given me, because they belong to you: all I have is yours and all you have is mine, and in them I am glorified. I am not in the world any longer, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you.’
Prayer over the Offerings
Accept, O Lord, the prayers of your faithful with the sacrificial offerings, that through these acts of devotedness we may pass over to the glory of heaven. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon: Jn 17: 22
Father, I pray that they may be one as we also are one, alleluia.
Prayer after Communion
Hear us, O God our Saviour, and grant us confidence, that through these sacred mysteries there will be accomplished in the body of the whole Church what has already come to pass in Christ her Head. Who lives and reigns for ever and ever.
Meditation
Jesus begins by praying for the success of his mission. He prays that through his passion, death and resurrection, he may find glory. In John’s gospel, Jesus’ glory begins with his passion and the high moment is the moment of his dying on the cross which is also the moment of resurrection and union with the Father. This glory is not for himself but its meant to lead people to glorify God, of whom Jesus is the revealer and the mediator. Jesus prays that people everywhere may share in the life of God. And what is that life? It is stated here in one of the key sayings of Jesus reported in the gospel. “Eternal life is this: to know you the one true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” To know God and to know Jesus is to acknowledge their unique place as the source and end of all we have and are. To know the Father and Jesus is to have an understanding of Jesus’ message and to have assimilated it into one’s life. It is not just a message of recognition but a mutual identification of vision and values.