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5/29 - 7th Sunday of Easter 2022
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In the First Reading (Acts 7:55-60), we read the story of the death of Stephen; the first Christian martyr. The Jewish authorities at the time accused him of blasphemy for preaching about the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and hatched a plan to stone him to death. In the narrative, we also meet Saul, a young man who is overseeing the lynching as he is the keeper of the cloaks so that he can eventually ‘reward’ the team that carried out the sentence of execution. The power to execute was reserved solely to the Roman Governor. The witness of Stephen might have sown seeds of conversion in Saul who will encounter Christ later, on the way to Damascus. We learn that Stephen was filled with the Holy Spirit and looking up to heaven; he saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
The Gospel Reading (John 17:20-26) on the other hand tells us about the priestly prayer of our Lord Jesus Christ which focuses on the oneness of his followers and their need for divine provision and protection. The passage starts with our Lord Jesus Christ looking up to heaven. There is something about looking up that the liturgy of the word of this Sunday wants us to learn especially following the ascension of our Lord into heaven which left the apostles gazing up towards heaven (Acts 1:10).
Looking up means redirecting our attention; changing our focus from a lower region to a higher one. In the Book of Psalms (121:1-2) David exclaims, “I lift up my eyes to the hills- from where will my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth”. The life and ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ show a constant looking up to heaven for divine encounter. After his baptism he looked up, the heavens opened, and the Spirit of God descended upon him like a dove, and the voice of the Father comes saying, “This is my son the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matt. 3:16-17). Before the miracle of the five loaves of bread and two fish, Jesus looked up to heaven and gave thanks to God, and there was a multiplication that fed five thousand people excluding women and children (Mark 9:14-16)
To look up to heaven means looking up to God. In the Letter to the Colossians (3:1-2), St. Paul instructs as follows; “If you have been raised with Christ seek the things that are above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above not on things that are on earth”. From these words of St.Paul, we understand that
“ Looking Up” is a mindset, in fact, a heavenly mindset and an important key to a life of contentment. The apostles would receive the Holy Spirit after the ascension of the Lord because they went up to the UPPER ROOM from where they kept looking up to heaven in prayer (Acts 1:13-14).
We need to look up to God because His love never fails (Psalm 136), and He is always faithful (1 Cor. 1:9). We need to look up to God because He would supply all our needs according to His riches in glory (Phil.4:19). We need to look up to God because He cares about us even when our closest relatives abandon us (Psalm 27:10). We need to look up to God because His goodness and mercies are forever (Psalm 23:6). As summer season comes many of us may be tempted not to “Look Up”, not to raise our hearts and minds to God in prayer. Being in close contact with nature must necessarily remind us of the creator.
The high priestly prayer that Jesus offers looking up to the Father, is a prayer for the community. Jesus prays that “all may be one.” To be a follower of Jesus is to be a part of a greater whole. According to Jesus, there are to be no solitary Christians or spiritual “Lone Rangers.” There will be moments and issues that bring disagreements. But we must not be disagreeable as we are one in Christ whether we agree with each other or not. We are one in Christ whether we like one another or not. To become a part of Christ is to become a part of the community; a part of the one. The mystery of the incarnation is that God desired unity with us so much that God became one of us. And in that moment, we were drawn into the oneness of God, the Creator/Father, the Son, and the Spirit. It is with God’s help that we can live into that oneness.
It is only when we look up in prayer that we realize that humanity is one big neighborhood. Let us embrace unity in all ramifications of life and understand that we are all brothers and sisters whether white or black, young, or old. The word of God says “where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am among” (Mathew 18:20), this can only be possible when we are united in our hearts and actions, and prayer. Let us seek unity and let go of divisiveness which is the prime work of the evil one.
During this week before Pentecost, I invite you to please pray like Mary, the women, the apostles, and the disciples for a renewed outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Church and on all of us that we may respond to God better. Please believe that lifting your hearts in prayer will be answered. Pray that our celebration of Pentecost will lead to the Church being renewed and strengthened by God’s Spirit. Happy Summer. As you plan your vacation, why not give some thought to taking a holiday with the Lord in the form of a spiritual retreat or visit to a special shrine?!
Fr Tom Kunnel, C.O