7th Sunday of Easter: Year A (THE UPPER ROOM)

DOCTRINE AND FAITH

(Acts 1, 12-14; 1 Peter 4, 13-16; John 17,1-11a: 7th Sunday of Easter: Year A)

         

 This seventh Sunday of Easter falls between the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Pentecost Sunday, which is the day the Holy Spirit Jesus promised descended on the Apostles. Last Sunday we discussed the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Truth who would shed more light on the person of Jesus Christ, his teachings and mission in the world.  It is this same Spirit that will unleash power on apostles, power that will enable them to be Jesus’ veritable witnesses throughout the world. Jesus indicated this on the day of his Ascension when he told them: But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1, 8). The apostle Paul holds: No one can say, “Jesus is Lord” unless he is under the influence of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 12, 3). What this statement boils down to is that we cannot do anything, especially in the spiritual arena without the help of the Holy Spirit. Most often, we neither realize, nor acknowledge our weakness and powerlessness, particularly in the spiritual domain. All the saints came to acknowledge their weakness. Anyone who has made serious attempts at living a spiritual life will know that without God’s grace he/she is powerless. We are like inexperienced swimmers who wish to swim out to sea but who are tossed back on the shore again and again by the waves. We need a strength we do not possess. In this our age of do-it-yourself, this truth will come as a blow to our pride. After Jesus’ ascension  his disciples realized their helplessness and limitations and retired to the Upper Room, the site of the Last Supper (Luke 22,12), that belonged to the mother of John Mark (Acts 12,12). The remaining eleven apostles were there. Luke the author of the Acts of the Apostles notes the presence of some women and Mary the mother of Jesus and his brothers (cousins). What were they doing in the Upper Room? They devoted themselves with one accord to prayer. They were waiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit and the power He is to bring along. 

          It was this Holy Spirit that would make them appreciate the true nature of Jesus whose disciples they were. It was the Holy Spirit that would help them understand the revelation which Jesus made of himself in the High Priestly Prayer, a part of which we read in today’s Gospel. It was the Holy Spirit that would make it clear to them that the type of relationship that exists between Jesus and God is that of Son-Father. Jesus addresses God with the title of Father and refers to himself as Son. It was from this Father that Jesus came and it is to the Father he returns. The glory for which Jesus prays is the glory he shared with his Father before the creation of the world. Jesus’ authority came from his Father and he in turn delivered the Father’s word to his disciples and reveals the Father’s name to them. Though in some ways Jesus appears to be subordinate to his Father, yet they share all things. This passage brings out Jesus’ divine character. It is only the Holy Spirit that will enable the Christian of any age understand the relationship between the Father and Jesus and empower him/her to enter into a similar relationship with Jesus and eventually with the Father. It is the Holy Spirit that will empower the Christian to enter and nurture a close relationship with Jesus and God the Father in this world, (the realm of human life and reality) that is hostile and antagonistic towards God and the things of God, where the disciples of Jesus will continue to live and survive even after his departure to his heavenly Father. It is the same Holy Spirit that will empower the Christian to suffer with Christ so as to share in his glory as Peter, the apostle, indicates in the second reading of this Sunday. It is the Holy Spirit that will enable the Christian to bear insults and suffer persecution for Christ’s sake. Without the Holy Spirit we cannot be holy, we cannot relate to God the Father or to his Son Jesus Christ; we cannot know God’s will, let alone do it, which is the quintessence of holiness. It is the same Holy Spirit that guides the Church in her teaching and from doctrinal error. If the Holy Spirit is so important in the life of the Church and that of the individual Christians, why is devotion to the Holy Spirit so minimal, and at times and in certain places non existent?

          This period of the Church’s liturgical life, the time between the Ascension and Pentecost is, therefore, very important for us. Let us imitate the group in the Upper Room in Jerusalem, after Jesus’ ascension. During those nine days, the apostles with Mary in their midst, made an intense novena of prayer for the coming of the Holy Spirit. This is the oldest and the most important novena in the Church. Unfortunately, it is also the most neglected. This is a great pity, for each Pentecost renews the gift of the Holy Spirit in the Church. Somehow, the Charismatic Renewal Movement, through the Pentecost Week program, prepares for the ushering of the Holy Spirit. This is, however, not enough and seems to be an exclusive reserve of the members of this renewal and has not been taken seriously as an important way for the preparation for the coming of Holy Spirit. The Pentecost Week program contains a gem that both the universal and local churches should harness, deepen, develop, enhance, and purify to serve as a veritable and profitable preparation for the coming of the Holy Spirit during every Pentecost. Meanwhile, what we enjoin all Christians is to make this period, between Ascension and Pentecost, days of intense prayer. With the intercessory prayer of the Mother of Jesus to help us, let us devote ourselves in intense prayer. It is not as if we have never received the Spirit. We have many times, especially at Baptism and Confirmation. But these precious days will help to deepen our consciousness of our need the Holy Spirit and increase our longing to receive Him completely. Pentecost then will renew his gift in us and in the Church. May we at least in today’s liturgy and throughout this week invoke the Holy Spirit thus: Come Holy Spirit and fill the hearts of your faithful and enkindle in them the fire of your love; Send forth, O Lord, your Spirit and they shall be created and thou shall renew the face of the earth! Amen!  

+John I. Okoye

(pictures by blogger)