Year A
Discover the deeper meaning and connections found in this week's readings, through these great commentaries written by our priests.
Explore this week's readings and hear what God is saying to us through His Word.
Find out more about how we can mark this special day in our liturgy.
See our music recommendations for the liturgy.
Today’s gospel is a part of what’s known as ‘the farewell discourse’.
It’s the night of the Last Supper. One powerful and simple line in this gospel is: ‘I pray for them’.
Replace the word ‘them’ with your own Christian name ‘N.’
Whenever I read this passage, I envisage Jesus passionately in prayer, for them,….for me.
Jesus speaks from the depths of his heart. He tells us of the Father’s love for him and his love for his Father, who is the heart and core of his very being. The Father’s love continues to be with him right to the end, even to the Cross, to the point of giving his all, his life.
Here, in this discourse, we have Jesus hours before his arrest, his ‘court-case’, his sentence and impending death, and what does he do? He prays for us!
He doesn’t isolate or close in on himself. He doesn’t get angry or resentful.
He doesn’t resist or fight back. He doesn’t run away or try to escape.
He doesn’t complain about or deny the reality of what is happening.
Instead, he faces his life. He’s in touch with his humanity. He feels what he feels. He grieves. He weeps (John 11:35). He gathers with his friends. He prays. He entrusts us to the Father.
He lives with a faith that Easter is always on the other side of the ‘dividing line’.
‘Dividing lines’ in life are those threshold moments that calls into question everything: priorities and values, the way we live and relate to one another, the things that truly matter, where we want to invest our time and energy, how we want to be in this world, what we want from life.
How to cope with life and death; love and grief.
What about you and me?
What if we came to the ‘dividing lines’ in our life trusting our humanity and trusting that Easter is always on the other side?
And friends, next week we have the feast of Pentecost, the feast of what side of the dividing line we want to be on! The side of the human spirit!
Our spirit is our most precious possession.
It is our greatest source of energy.
However, while it can be very strong, it can also be very brittle.
What is it that enables the spirit to soar, and what is it that causes it to sink?
Sadness weighs it down; joy lifts it up.
Criticism erodes it; praise builds it up.
Despair causes it to wilt; hope breathes new life into it.
Rejection wounds it; acceptance heals it.
Hatred poisons it; love purifies it.
Fear cripples it; solitude calms it; prayer strengthens it.
In our dividing lines of life, the Holy Spirit continually breathes new life into our spirits.
So, as we prepare for the feast of Pentecost, we might make our own the prayer:
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.
Waiting can be difficult at times. The sense of anticipation and even uncertainty can be daunting. This Sunday, we find ourselves waiting. We celebrated the Solemnity of the Ascension this past Thursday, and we look forward to Pentecost next Sunday. Yes, the physical presence of Jesus was no longer amongst his disciples and us, but a different presence of Jesus occurs – the presence of him in his Body, the Church. The Collect reminds us that his abiding presence is among us until the end of the world. It may seem at times that God is not present in the world and in our lives, but the liturgy always reminds us of his abiding presence. Christ is present in many aspects of the liturgy – in the Sacred Scriptures, in the faithful gathered, in the ordained minister, at the altar, and substantially present in the Eucharist. The Prayer after Communion reminds us of that through the celebration of the sacred mysteries the body of the whole church will reach its completion, or end, as it passes in Christ her Head to the glory of Heaven. During this time of waiting, the liturgy is here to help and sustain us along this journey.
These hymns have been picked and chosen from different sources.
Alleluia, Sing to Jesus (CFE37, L644, LHON110,TCH112
Be still and know that I am with you (CFE69, L968,LHON163)
Abba Father send your Spirit (CFE8, L293, LHON96)
Come down, O love divine (CFE125, L303)
Spirit of the Living God (CFE666, L306, LHON630)
This is my body, broken for you (CFE730, L627, LHON681)
Key
CFE - Celebration Hymnal for Everyone
L – Laudate
LHON – Liturgical Hymns Old and New (Mayhew, 1999)
TCH – The Catholic Hymnbook (Gracewing)
Do you have questions about the liturgy and how we are called to participate in it? Explore how the Church councils, saints, and popes have answered this key question and many more.
Every movement of the Mass is rich in meaning but we can become over-familiar with it. Rediscover the Mass and explore how it relates to the Exodus story, where many of its rituals come from, and how it makes Jesus present to us today.
