“When he finished speaking he knelt down and prayed with them all.”
          Acts 20:36

“Lifting up His eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed….”
          John 17:11b

We are coming to the end of the Easter season.  For the past few years I have really enjoyed the readings of the Easter season when we focus on the Acts of the Apostles and the Gospel of John.  I have heard some people refer to The Acts of the Apostles as the Gospel of the Holy Spirit.  Indeed it is.  It has all the wonderful stories of how the Holy Spirit inspired and worked through the apostles and how so many people were converted to ‘The Way.’  I love the dissertations of Jesus in John’s Gospel.  He is the Vine.  He is the Good Shepherd.  He is The Way, The Truth and Life.

Today, Paul prays with the disciples he is leaving behind.  Jesus prays for His apostles He will soon leave behind AND us.  I just think that is awesome, that Jesus prays for us!   Both Paul and Jesus ask for alertness.  They admit it will not be easy and there will be people and situations that pull us away from our efforts to be holy.  It is hard work and we must always be conscious and attentive of our thoughts and actions.

Paul reminds us it is more blessed to ‘give than to receive.’  What is it that we are to give?  …LOVE.   Jesus prays that we may be one just as He and the Father are one.  How are they one?  They are one in love.  They are LOVE.  The Holy Spirit is the essence of that love.

We receive that love through the sacraments and at each Mass.  It is through the words, gestures and rituals of the sacraments that we experience God’s love for us.  It is through the words, gestures and rituals of our everyday lives that we express our love for each other.  It is through the words, gestures and ritual of prayer that we can return our love for God.  We are Resurrection people.  As we end this Easter season let us be renewed in our relationships with God and others.

This Sunday we will celebrate the birth of the Church.  Let us pray that the Holy Spirit of God will heal our wounds so our strength can be renewed as God's people and we all can continue to do His work with love.