Sunday After the Ascension
Solemn Vespers
May 21, 2023
St. Alphonsus Parish, Baltimore
Gathered in the Upper Room
On this Sunday between the solemn celebration of the Lord’s Ascension into heaven and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, we are gathered for prayer, just as the Apostles and the Virgin Mary gathered for prayer in the Upper Room, the Upper Room where Jesus had instituted the Eucharist and the Priesthood on that first Holy Thursday, “on the night before he died”.
What happened in the Upper Room in the days that intervened between the Ascension and Pentecost? – Three things:
First, just as the Risen Lord had instructed them to do, the Apostles and the Virgin Mary opened their hearts in prayer, watching, waiting, praying, trusting that God would send the Paraclete, the Advocate who would remind them of all that Jesus had taught them, the Holy Spirit who would give the courage and wisdom to fulfill the mission entrusted to them by the Risen Lord, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. So first and foremost, they prayed and prayed earnestly.
Second, the Apostles, under the leadership of Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, replaced Judas Iscariot with Matthias who was a witness to the Resurrection. They did so with prayer and discernment and trusted that God would guide their decision. In so doing, Peter and the Apostles were co-workers with the Good Shepherd in securing the Apostolic foundations of the Church for all ages.
Third, the Apostles and the Virgin Mary anticipated the Jewish Feast of Pentecost, one of the major feast days of the Mosaic Law, a feast celebrated fifty days after the Passover. The coming of the Holy Spirit would transform this feast into the birthday of the Church’s mission of evangelization, just as Jesus had transformed the Passover into the new and definitive deliverance of God’s people from sin and death.
What Should We Be Doing in this Interval?
What, then, should we be doing as the Feast of Pentecost draws near? How should we make good use of this precious nine-day period between Ascension and Pentecost? I would suggest that we make the best use of these days by imitating what the Apostles and the Virgin Mary did.
First, while we cannot return to the Upper Room, at least some of us might be able to take part in daily Mass, participating in the Sacrifice of Christ and receiving the Lord’s Body and Blood, even as we take to heart his promise to send the Paraclete. Whether or not we can attend daily Mass, all of us can pray. It is easy to find on-line novenas to the Holy Spirit. Even if we pray the novena separately, we can still do so with one mind and heart, asking the Holy Spirit to stir into flame his gifts and to make us receptive to his seven-fold graces such that the fruits of the Holy Spirit will be evident in our lives – evident to God the Father who sees what is in our hearts, and evident to those who are around us, who see that we are striving to live as true disciples of the Lord.
Second, we should pray for the Church and her leaders, especially the Holy Father and the Church’s bishops. Just as the Apostles chose Matthias, so too we should pray that the Church’s chosen leaders would be, in the words of St. Paul to Timothy, “strong, loving, and wise”. Whenever people tell me that they are praying for me, I rejoice! We depend on one another’s prayers as followers of the Lord and in living out the vocation to which God has called us. So let us use these days to pray for the Church and her leaders.
Let us also use these days to ask the Holy Spirit to help us do our part in fulfilling the great commission which Jesus gave to the Apostles – to bring the Gospel to the ends of the earth and to baptize in the name of theTrinity. With the coming of the Holy Spirit, as we know, the Apostles were no longer confused or frightened. Rather, they became bold in their witness to the Lord Jesus, and through their preaching and marvelous deeds, many were brought into the faith and many became followers of Jesus. Each of us has a role to play in spreading the faith, in helping inactive Catholics to become active once again, and in bear witness to the Church’s faith in the places were we live and work, among our relatives and friends, sometimes even strangers – and this in a world that is increasingly hostile to religion.
Conclusion
It is a joy and a pleasure to celebrate Solemn Vespers with all of you this evening. Please be assured of my prayers for you, the parishioners of St. Alphonsus. May the Holy Spirit bless and protect you and your families and fill you with the love of the Incarnate Lord Jesus, who suffered, died, and was buried, who rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven, where now he pleads for us before God’s Throne.
Through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Alphonsus Ligouri, may God bless you and keep you always in his love!