First Reading
Ascension: Acts 1:1-11
7 Easter B: Acts 1:15-17, 20, 20-26
1. “Then they prayed.” Do you pray before you make important choices? Would you feel comfortable “casting lots,” throwing dice, or flipping a coin after you pray? How would you make a final choice like the one they had to make?
2. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” This could be the definition of evangelization. Pope Francis says that Jesus himself is the model of evangelization. How important is listening to people’s needs in being a witness and evangelist for Christ?
Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is nothing else than the culmination of the way he lived his entire life. Moved by his example, we want to enter fully into the fabric of society, sharing the lives of all, listening to their concerns, helping them materially and spiritually in their needs, rejoicing with those who rejoice, weeping with those who weep; arm in arm with others, we are committed to building a new world.
Second Reading
Ascension: Ephesians 1:17-23 or 4:1-13
7 Easter B: 1 John 4:11-16
1. “God is love and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him.” Whenever you experience true love, is God present? Can we find God in all true love? So does it work both ways: love of God leads to love of neighbor, and love of neighbor leads to love of God?
2. “ … live in a manner worthy of the call you have received … ” If your call isn’t to be an evangelist or a pastor, what is it? Could it be to feed the hungry? To lead Eco-justice or Green Teams? Help people find jobs or housing?
Gospel
Ascension: Mark 16:15-20
7 Easter B: John 17:11-19
1. Jesus prayed aloud so his disciples would hear him “ that they will be one with him as we are one. … As you sent me into the world, so I send them into the world.” Will knowing they are one with Jesus and the Father and being sent to do his work bring the disciples the “joy” that Jesus will share with them?
2. Jesus said signs would accompany those who believed. Most of us will not be picking up serpents with our hands or drinking deadly things without being harmed. What kinds of signs might you see today when you or someone else proclaims the Gospel in some way? Crises (racial, environmental, trafficking) brought into the light? Voice for the voiceless? Change for the good?
