Sunday the 17th of May 2026 - The Seventh Sunday of Easter

Acts 1:12-14/ Ps 27(26)/ 1 Peter 4:13-16/ John 17:1-11a

Most of us know only too well what it is like to be delayed at the airport. The flight is delayed, no information, no departure time, and no explanation. The frustration can be seen all around, people are restless, pacing up and down, even getting angry with staff, or they just give up and try to sleep on the seats. We feel trapped, with no control over when we might get going. We know this feeling of waiting, with little control over what is happening, not only when travelling but in most areas of our lives including our spiritual lives. There are times when even God seems to hold us up, when prayers feel unheard and unanswered, when our path is not clear. When we want to do something, fix something, move forward in life but instead we are left just waiting. This is where we find the Apostles and companions of Jesus in the first reading today. They had to sit, like us, in their departure lounge, their waiting room, the upper room. What did they do in their situation that we can do in ours while we wait, while we look for God but feel lost and abandoned?

The Apostles had just seen Jesus ascend to heaven; the clouds took him from their sight. They returned to the safety and security of the upper room as they pondered what would happen next, where do they go, what do they do? This is the place Jesus had washed their feet, given them His body and blood in bread and wine, and had appeared to them after His resurrection. This is where they felt closest to Jesus and here, together with Mary the mother of Jesus, his followers, friends, and relatives, devoted themselves to prayer. We have all had times like these when we feel lost and unsure. Times when the way forward is unclear, when we are burdened by feelings of uncertainty, when we do not know what to do next. The men who had been chosen by Jesus, who had travelled with him, heard his teaching, seen his miracles, spoken with him after his resurrection, even they had to wait around in uncertainty. It should be no surprise that we must do the same sometimes. At times like these we must follow the example of the Apostles, they gathered and prayed together, as they awaited the promise of the Holy Spirit.

The passages from the Acts of the Apostles give us an account of the beginning of the Church being born in prayer with Mary, Mother of Jesus, at the centre of things. Our Blessed Mother who gave God her "yes" at the Annunciation, prayed with the infant Church as it waited to be filled with the same Spirit who overshadowed her in Nazareth. We learn from Mary how to wait, how to pray, how to be open to the Spirit. She is our model of receptive faith. This waiting is not just sitting around doing nothing, it must be active, devoted to persistent prayer. The message for today is that without the power of the Holy Spirit, the Apostles would have remained locked in the Upper Room. Without the power of the Holy Spirit, they could not have burst out of that room and preached. they could not have been the Church. It is the same for us today; without the power of The Holy Spirit, we remain inactive and waiting when we should be out in the world proclaiming the risen Lord to all.

Our action for God in the Holy Spirit is challenging and comes at a cost. As the second reading points out telling us to rejoice as we share in Christ's sufferings. This might sound strange, to rejoice in suffering, but we cannot share in the joy of the resurrection without also sharing the cross to some degree. We are called to proclaim the Gospel to a cynical and disbelieving world, we must be prepared to be mocked, insulted, and misunderstood. To live as a Christian today is to swim against the current, to be counter cultural. Our Christian life is lived between the City of God and the City of Man, and we must always remember which one we truly belong to. We should not seek the approval of the world. We are called to proclaim the glory of God, living for something eternal. The suffering we endure for Jesus is not worthless, it is a participation in His own passion, and it leads us to His glory.

In the Gospel we hear some of the prayer called the Priestly Prayer of Jesus. The Son spoke to the Father on the night before He died. He prayed for God to give Glory to His son so that He may glorify the Father. Jesus was about to complete His mission, to return to the glory He had with the Father before the world began. He prayed for us, those He left behind in the world. Jesus prayed for us on the night before He died. He held us in His Sacred Heart as He spoke to His Father. He was thinking of us, of our struggles, of our weaknesses, of our need for grace. We live in the world, but we are not of the world. Through our baptism, we belong to Christ. Baptism makes us a new creature, an adopted son or daughter of God, a member of the Body of Christ. As we journey through this worldly life as pilgrims, we need the graces of the Holy Spirit to navigate the temptations and distractions around us. We need the Holy Spirit to keep us from being swallowed up by the empty, fleeting pleasures the world offers.

What must we do when we feel lost, when we feel uncertain, when life seems to have closed in around us. We do what the Apostles did. We return to the upper room. Where is our upper room today? It is here, at Mass, in this celebration. It is here that Jesus comes to us in so many ways. He is the High Priest who offers Himself to the Father. He gathers us together as He gathered the Apostles. He speaks to us through the Sacred Scriptures proclaimed to us. And in a most real and intimate way, He gives Himself to us in the Eucharist. Jesus does not abandon us and never would. The Holy Spirit is alive and active among us, but we must respond. The Spirit will not force His way into a closed heart. We must open ourselves, we must say, like Mary, "Let it be done to me according to your word." We must be willing to be sent out, like the Apostles after Pentecost, to bring the Good News to a world that desperately needs it.

In these days of waiting before Pentecost, let us join Mary and the Apostles in that upper room in prayer. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to fill us again. Let us not be afraid of the suffering that comes with discipleship, because we know that beyond the cross lies the glory of resurrection. Let us trust completely in the prayer of Jesus, who even now, at the right hand of the Father, prays for us. May the Holy Spirit come upon us with power, fill our hearts with courage, and send us out to proclaim the glory of God to a world that needs to hear it.

God Bless Brendan