The Ascension of the Lord

by Fr. Jess Ty  |  06/01/2025  |  Weekly Reflection

Dear Family of God,

Here in our Diocese, we move Ascension into the Seventh Sunday of Easter, instead of Thursday. So, we don’t usually hear these readings, but today I want to share a reflection for that day.

“So that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me.” (John 17:21)

According to Dr. Bergsma, John 17 is rightly called the “High Priestly Prayer,” and it has important elements in common with the Day of Atonement liturgy, which was performed by the high priest in the Old Covenant era. On the Day of Atonement, the high priest entered the Holy of Holies and made atonement for (1) himself, (2) the priesthood, and (3) the people of Israel. This is also the structure of John 17, as Jesus prays for himself (vv. 1-5), the apostles (vv. 6-19), and the Church (vv. 20-26). The Lectionary recognizes this, and places the first part of the prayer in Year A, the second part in Year B, and the third part in Year C. So, here we are concluding another cycle in which Jesus completes his prayer to the Father by praying for the Church.

Jesus prays for the unity of the Church, that the world may believe. Christians has to be united in the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church so that the world will believe in Jesus. We are all to be united in the Successor of Peter, the one Pope, Pope Leo XIV in our time.

In the second reading, we have been working through the Book of Revelation, and we read the end of it in this Mass. The theme of these readings of 7th Sunday could be described as “Our heavenly Goal” because all of them point forward to God’s final intention for us as members of the Church. “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. Blesed are they who wash their robes (meaning Baptism) so as to have the right to the tree of life, (meaning to eat the Eucharist). Through the Sacraments, we slake our thirst for the “Life-giving water” which is the Holy Spirit. This second reading remind us that the destiny of each of us, as well as our collective destiny as the Church, is to face Christ, the King, and to share in the glory of his kingdom.

Let us pray for unity of all Christians as we draw closer to celebrate the Pentecost.