Homily for the Seventh Sunday of Easter, Year A

Today’s Gospel is from the first part of John chapter seventeen, what is sometimes

referred to as the Priestly Prayer of Jesus. It is uttered by Christ at the time of the

Last Supper, after the Washing of the Feet on Maundy Thursday. People have

identified three parts to it, and our Gospel reading today includes the first two parts.

In the first part, Christ asks the Father for the glorification of His holy human nature

and for the Father to accept His Sacrifice on the Cross. In the second part, He prays

for His disciples, whom He is going to send out into the world. Then, in the third

part, He prays for unity among all His followers down through the centuries.

So when He says, “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me

out of the world”, He is praying for those right in front of Him, the Apostles. He is

consecrating them for their mission, which will begin after the Ascension and

Pentecost. This reminds us of a few points. Firstly, that Christ prays for us, too, to

the Father. At the time of the Ascension He said that He would always be with us,

and He doesn’t forget us in His prayer to the Father. Secondly, we all need each

other, and need to pray for each other. Nobody is self-sufficient. Even the Pope

needs the prayers of the faithful all over the world. There are times when God

answers prayer only when certain conditions are met, as if to educate us. We pray

for something ourselves, and it doesn’t seem to be granted. But then, if we involve

others to pray for that intention, then it is. As the Body of Christ, we are supposed to

work together, just as a body has different parts, which are all coordinated together.

If the hand starts to do its own thing, regardless of what the head wants, then there is

something wrong. In the same way, in the Church, if we are to be genuinely the

Body of Christ, we have to work together in communion with each other, yes,

following the teachings of Christ that come to us through the Church, but also we

need to look out for and assist each other, just as the hand might be used to move a

branch away from the face, or the leg and the foot work together in coordination to

kick a ball into a goal.

Our prayer and the working of God’s grace also include Our Lady as well. In the

first reading, the eleven Apostles gather together in prayer, together with Mary, the

Mother of Jesus, and some of the other disciples. Sometimes, God wants to remind

us of the important role Our Lady has in our lives as Christians.

On such example in history is Guadalupe, in Mexico. Missionaries had set up

churches there, but the mission had been rather fruitless, and they were wondering

whether it might be worth packing their bags and heading off somewhere else. Then

Our Lady appears to St Juan Diego in 1531, and the rapid conversion of the country

takes place, which results also in the end of the abominable practice of child

sacrifice.

Christ also prays for His followers, as there will be trials ahead. In the second

reading, St Peter writes, “Rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you

may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.” In other words, it can be

rather unpleasant to have to suffer for our faith, whether it is in smaller matters, such

as ridicule, inconvenience, or bigger matters, such as losing our job, or being passed

over for a job in the first place, or even being put to death. Following Christ means

not just being there for the good times, celebrating the Resurrection, the Ascension

and Pentecost, but also following Him to the Cross as well, and being like Simon of

Cyrene, helping Him carry the Cross to Calvary.

We can think of persecution of Christians being something that happens perhaps in

parts of Africa, Asia or other locations, but not so much Europe. But in Finland,

Päivi Räsänen and Lutheran Bishop JuhanaPohjola were found guilty on 26th March

this year by the Supreme Court of Finland of “hate speech” for a booklet written

twenty-two years ago. They were convicted under Finland’s 2011“hate speech”

lawthatfalls under the War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity section of the

country’s criminal code. They were ordered to pay thousands of euros in fines and

remove sections of their booklet from public access and destroy them. The

offending publication was written at the time of the redefinition of marriage in

Finland, using Scripture and Christian teachings to guide follow Christians through

some of the issues. Bishop Pohjola said:

“As a Bishop, I have a responsibility to guide those under my pastoral care, and I am

deeply concerned by the state's extensive efforts to censor our beliefs and decide what

can and cannot be taught by religious leaders to members of their own group.”

They have now put in an appeal together to the European Court of Human Rights.

Christ prayed for the apostles, knowing what they would face when they went out

into the world, and in the end, all of them were martyred except the Apostle John. In

our time the challenges are different, but they are still there. But we have the prayer

of Christ, the prayers of Our Lady, and also the prayers of each other to help us

along. We may be weighed down by the challenge; but the prayers supporting us lift

us up once more.

Curious about exploring things further?  If you would like to ask further questions about the topics raised in these homilies (or maybe think it wasn’t explained too well!), please feel free to e-mail Fr Michael at stjoseph.thame@rcaob.org.uk