SEVENTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
May 29, 2022
AS WE GATHER
During this season of Easter, an odd thing happens with the Lectionary. Instead of just reading what happened after Jesus rose and ascended, we are sometimes taken back to things Jesus said and did previously. Such is the case with today’s Gospel, part of what is known as Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer. It is a prayer that Jesus prayed just before going to the cross. Here Jesus prays that all who believe in Him—past, present, and future—may be one. Why review something that happened before the first Easter? Because Jesus’ prayer is not bound by time or place; Jesus, who has ascended to the right hand of the Father, is even now praying such a prayer. “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word” (John 17:20). This was Jesus’ prayer for the Twelve. This is also Jesus’ prayer for us. The model for our oneness in Christ is the Holy Trinity: “Just as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be in Us” (John 17:21). Jesus’ prayer for the Church today is that we may all be one, just as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one, so that the world may believe.
BIBLE READINGS
FIRST READING: Acts 1:12–26 (The disciples gather in Jerusalem, devoting
themselves to prayer.)
EPISTLE READING: Revelation 22:1–6, 12–20 (Christ, the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, is coming soon.)
HOLY GOSPEL: John 17:20–26 (That all believers may be one)