Seventh Sunday of Easter, Cycle B - May 24, 2009

Scripture Readings
First : Acts 1:15 to 17, 20a, 20c-26
Second 1 John 4:11-16
Gospel John 17: 11b-19.

Prepared by: Fr. Stephen Dominic Hayes, OP

1. Subject Matter
• The seventh Sunday of Easter finds the Church between Ascension and Pentecost, closeted
in prayer, beseeching the risen and ascended Christ to pour down upon her the gift of the
Spirit of Truth, who unites her with the risen Lord, the word of God who is himself all Truth.
In the simplicity of God, God's truth and God's love are one; and therefore, the proof of the
presence of the Spirit of truth is the presence in the believers of the love of Christ that is at
the service of one another.
• At the root of the truth of Christ is the right to the fashion of him come in the flesh; that divine
Truth in Jesus Christ has taken human shape and form and life, and that the confession of
Christ, come in the flesh is the first proof of the spirits manifestation; the next is change lives
that flows from back in fashion as the lower for all God and neighbor which was manifested
perfectly in the Lord Jesus Christ becomes visible in the members of his Church.
• The apostolic ministry-the new priesthood of the Gospel-in a specific way out to manifest this
unity of mind and heart which was in Christ Jesus. At the Last Supper, Christ will pray for his
disciples that they will be preserved from the evil one, but not that they should be taken out of
the world. They do not belong to it, but their mission is precisely to manifest in the world the
truth and love of God which has broken in through Jesus Christ. Jesus prays in the gospel
for a perfect unity of his disciples with him and each other, that the unity of the Church that
they will lead and animate should manifest that unity of truth and love which Jesus has in his
own relationship with the Father and the people he has come to save.

2. Exegetical Notes
• First Reading: This short reading from the Acts of the Apostles is heavily edited, leaving out
the retelling of the death of Judas, the betrayer. The passage serves to emphasize the
importance of the institution of about Twelve Apostles as well as providing in verses 21 to 22
a specific theology of apostleship, and of the for Church' s foundation in the events of Christ's
life, death and resurrection. The specific witness of the Twelve is to be witnesses to these
things, of which they have been parked "since the beginning"; the effect of this is to draw a
 line of demarcation around the Twelve as the founding institution of the apostolic ministry. It
would seem to cut against the application of the term of "apostle” to persons called by Christ
after the resurrection, like St. Paul; the commentators suggest that Luke is working with a
definition of "apostle" which exists in the community already, which he inherits and
presupposes. Conzelmann ( Theology , 216) suggests that this preservation of the historical
uniqueness of the Twelve Apostles called by Christ provides for the ‘second generation”
Lucan Church historical foundation for the Church of the present, guarding against the
anarchy of unregulated charisms and private revelations (JBC 45:15).
• Second Reading : The reading from the first letter of St. John makes a tight connection
between the act of faith, and the practice of love within the apostolic community. It is by
continuing this pattern of love demonstrated for office in the events of the salvation history
that God is “seen’ (1 John 1:18) a lot of which claims to scene God but does not prove itself
true by manifesting the law that is the essence of the divine life now shared with human
beings is false and illusory. The proof of the possession of his divine life is first of all (v. 13)
the presence of God's Spirit, known by its concession of Jesus Christ come in the flesh (cf. 1
John 4:1-6), and secondly by the acceptance of Jesus Christ in his true character is Savior
of the world. “Without the reality of the Christ event as an exemplification of divine love, love
of bread or it is meaningless; joined to this reality, it truly shows for the divine presence in my
human being. (JBC 62:25).
• Gospel: This Sunday's Gospel is taken from the Last Supper discourse and specifically, from
the high-priestly prayer with which Jesus concludes his Last Supper. It is unusual in that,
although Christ is frequently shown praying in the gospel, it is rare to actually have the
content of his prayer given in the text. The section proclaimed of mass is the center section
of this prayer, in which he specifically praised for his disciples as priests, “Consecrate them in
the truth.” (v.17).
3. References to the Catechism of the Catholic Church
• CCC 737: The mission of Christ and the Holy Spirit is brought to completion in the Church,
which is the Body of Christ and the Temple of the Holy Spirit. This joint mission henceforth
brings Christ's faithful to share in his communion with the father in the Holy Spirit. The Spirit
prepares man and goes out to them with his grace in order to draw them to Christ. The Spirit
manifests the risen Lord to them, recalls his word to them and open their minds to be
understanding of his Death and Resurrection. He makes present the mystery of Christ,
supremely in the Eucharist, in order to reconcile them, to bring them into communion with
God, that they may "bear much fruit."
• CCC 858: Jesus is the Fathers Emissary. From the beginning of his ministry, he "called to
him those whom he desired;.... And he appointed Twelve, whom he also he named
Apostles, to be with him, and to be sent out to preach.” (Mark 3:13-14). From then on they
would also be his emissaries. In damn Christ continues his own nation: as the father has
sent me even so I send you. The apostles Ministry is the continuation of his mission; Jesus
said to the 12: "he who receives you received me." (John 20:21).
• CCC 860: in the office of the apostles there is one aspect that cannot be transmitted: to be
the chosen witnesses of the Lord's resurrection and sell the foundation stones of the church.
But their office also has a permanent aspect. Christ promised to remain with them always. A
divine mission and trusted by Jesus to them "will continue to the end of time, since the
 Gospel they handed on is the lasting source of all life for the church. Therefore,... The
Apostles took care to appoint successors.” (Lumen Gentium 20).

4. Patristic Commentary
• St. John Chrysostom ( Homily 81) As the disciples were still sad in spite of the Lord's
consolations, henceforth He addresses Himself to the Father to show the love which He had
for them; I pray for them; He not only gives them what He has of His own, but entreats
another for them, as a still further proof of His love.
• St. Augustine of Hippo ( On the Trinity, Bk. 4, c. 9) . He does not say, That I and they
maybe one, though He might have said so in the sense, that He was the head of the Church,
and the Church His body; not one thing, but one person: the head and the body being one
Christ. But strewing something else, viz. that His divinity is consubstantial With the Father,
He prays that His people may in like manner be one; but one in Christ, not only by the same
nature, in which mortal man is made equal to the Angels, but also by the same will, agreeing
most entirely in the same mind, and melted into one Spirit by the fire of love. This is the
meaning of, That they may be one as We are: viz. that as the Father and the Son are one not
only by equality of substance, but also in will, so they, between whom and God the Son is
Mediator, may be one not only by the union of nature, but by the union of love.
• St. Bede the Venerable ( in the Catena Aurea of St. Thomas.) As if to say, The time is now
at hand, when I shall be taken out of the world; and therefore it is necessary that they should
be still left in the world, in order to preach Me and You to the world. But that you should keep
them from the evil; every evil, but especially the evil of schism.
• St. Augustine of Hippo ( Tractates 108) Sanctify them through your truth: for thus were
they to be kept from the evil. But it may be asked, how it was that they were not of the world,
when they were not yet sanctified in the truth? Because the sanctified have still to grow in
sanctity, and this by the help of God's grace. The heirs of the New Testament are sanctified
in that truth, the shadows of which were the sanctification of the Old Testament; they are
sanctified in Christ, Who said above, I am the way, the truth, and the life. It follows, your
discourse is truth. The Greek is logos, i.e. word. The Father then sanctified them in the
truth, i.e. in His Word the Only-Begotten, them, i.e. the heirs of God, and joint-heirs With
Christ.
• St. John Chrysostom ( Homily 82): Or thus: for their sakes I sanctify Myself, i.e. I offer
Myself as a sacrifice to You; for all sacrifices and things that are offered to God are called
holy. And whereas this sanctification was of old in figure, (a sheep being the sacrifice,) but
now in truth, He adds, That they also might be sanctified through the truth: i.e. For I make
them too an oblation to You, either meaning that He who was offered up was their head, or
that they would be offered up too: as the Apostle says, Present your bodies a living sacrifice,
holy.
5. Examples from the Saints and Other Exemplars
• Ignatius of Antioch ( Letter to the Philadelphians 8-9): Certain people declared in my
hearing, "Unless I can find a thing in our ancient records, I refuse to believe in the Gospel";
and when I assured them that it is indeed in the ancient scriptures, they retorted, "That has
got to be proved". But for my part, my records are Jesus Christ; for me, the sacrosanct
records are his cross and death and resurrection, and the faith that comes through him. And
 it is by these, and by the help of your prayers, that I am hoping to be justified. The priests of
old, I admit, were estimable men; but our own High Priest is greater, for he has been
entrusted with the Holy of Holies, and to him alone are the secret things of God committed.
He is the doorway to the father, and is by them that Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and the
Prophets go in, no less than the apostles and the whole Church; for all these have their part
in God's unity. Nevertheless, the The has the distinction all its own, and the advent of our
Savior Jesus Christ, and his passion and resurrection. We are fond of the prophets, and they
did indeed point forward to them in their preaching; yet it is the Gospel that sets the coping
stone on man's immortality.
• The Martyrdom of Polycarp, 14: Then (St. Polycarp) cast his eyes up to heaven and said:
“Oh Lord God Almighty, the Father of your blessed and beloved Son Jesus Christ, through
whom we have been given knowledge of yourself; you are the God of angels and powers, of
the whole creation, and of all the generations of the righteous who live in your sight. I bless
you for granting me this day and hour, that I may be numbered among the martyrs, to share
the cup of your Anointed and to rise again unto life everlasting, both in body and soul, in the
immortality of the whole Holy Spirit. May I be received among them this day in your
presence, a sacrifice rich and acceptable, even as you did appoint and foreshadow, and do
now bring it to pass, for you are the God of truth and in you there is no falsehood. For this,
and for all else besides, I praise you, I bless you, I glorify you; you and your eternal high
Priest in heaven, your beloved Son Jesus Christ, by whom and with whom be glory to you
and the Holy Spirit now and for all ages to come. Amen."
6. Quotes

• Pope Benedict XVI (God Is near Us, San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2003. p. 23) : In the
story of the washing of the disciple' s feet, the evangelist sums up, as it were, all of Jesus'
message, his life, and his passion. As if in a vision, we see what this whole really is. … The
slave's service of washing the feet was performed in order to prepare a person suitably for
sitting at table, to make them ready for company, so that all could sit down together for a
meal. Jesus Christ prepares us, as it were, for God's presence and for each other's
company, so that we can sit down together at table. We, who repeatedly find we cannot
stand one another, who are quite unfit to be with God, are welcomed and accepted by him.
He clothes himself, so to speak, in the garment of our poverty, and in being taken up by him,
we are able to be with God, we have gained access to God. You are washed our willingness
to yield to his love. The meaning of this love is that God accepts us without preconditions,
even if we are unworthy of his love, incapable of relating to him, because he, Jesus Christ,
transforms us and becomes a brother to us.
• Pope Benedict XVI (Called to Communion, San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1996, pp. 24-
25.) : We must take note of the fact that the community of Jesus disciples is not an a
amorphous mob. At its center are the Twelve, who form a compactly knit core... We should
bear in mind that the Twelve received the title "apostles" only after the Resurrection.
Previously, they had been called simply "the Twelve". This number which joins them into a
clearly delineated community, is so important that after Judas' the trial betraya it is once
more completed (Acts 1:15-26). Their primary task is simply to be the community of the
Twelve. Two additional functions and come into play: "that they might be with him and that
he might send them" (Mark 3: 14). The symbolic value of the Twelve is consequently all of
decisive significance: Twelve is the number of Jacob's sons, the number of the twelve tribes
of Israel. In constituting the circle of Twelve, Jesus presents himself as the patriarch of a
 new Israel and institutes these Twelve men as its origin and foundation. There could be no
clearer way of expressing the beginning of a new people, which is now no longer formed by
physical descent but by "be with Jesus," a reality that the Twelve received from him and that
he sends them to mediate to others. The theme of unity and plurality may already be
described here as well, although the oneness of the new people is the dominant aspect
account of the inseparable communion of the Twelve, who fulfill their symbolism-their
mission-only as Twelve.

7. Other Considerations
• The seventh Sunday of Easter occurs between Ascension Thursday and Pentecost, as part
of these original novena celebrated by the Church as she renews each year her intensive
prayer for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit's gifts upon her. The preacher's sermon might
well set the discussion of Christ's unity with the church through the Holy Spirit in truth and
love in the context of the larger liturgical relationship between these feasts. The gift of the
heaven-sent Holy Spirit, promised at Easter, made needful in the Ascension, manifested in
the Pentecost opens the way for the church is deeper meditations on the truth and love she
has received in the following celebrations of Trinity Sunday and Corpus Christi.

Recommended Resources
Benedict XVI, Pope. Benedictus: Day by Day with Pope Benedict XVI. Yonkers, Copyright
Ignatius Press/ Magnificat 2006. New York: Magnificat: SAS, 2006.

Brown, Raymond E., S.S., Fitzmeyer, Joseph, S.J., and Murphy, Roland E., O. Carm. The
Jerome Biblical Commentary. Two Vols. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc.,
1968.

Jurgens, William A. The Faith of the Early Fathers. 3 Vols. Collegeville, Minnesota: The
Liturgical Press, 1979.

Moloney, Francis J., S.D.B. The Gospel of John. Sacra Pagina Series, Vol. 4: Daniel J
Harrington, ed. Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1998.

Stanforth, Maxwell, Ed. and Trans. Early Christian Writings: The Apostolic Fathers. Revised
translation, introduction and new editorial material by Andrew Louth. London: Penguin Books,
1987.

Thomas Aquinas, St. Catena Aurea: Commentary on the Four Gospels Collected out of the
Works of the Fathers. St. John’s Gospel. Vol. 4, Pt. II . Albany, N.Y.: Preserving Christian
Publications, Inc., 2000.

Thomas Aquinas, St. Catena Aurea: Commentary on the Four Gospels Collected out of the
Works of the Fathers. St. John’s Gospel . Catechetics Online:
http://www.catecheticsonline.com/CatenaAurea-John20.php