Ascension/Seventh Sunday of Easter, Year B

O God, the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: Do not leave us comfortless, but send us your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to that place where our Savior Christ has gone before; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

John 17:6-19

Jesus prayed for his disciples, “I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.”

Faith from the Margins to the Web contributors:  Davis and Fay

Fay and Davis, two retired people from very different walks of life, sat in the sunny library getting to know each other and taking turns reading the prayer and Gospel lesson from John for this Seventh Sunday of Easter, the Sunday of the Ascension.

“Holy Father, Protect them in your name…and protect them from the Evil One” said Fay, “that is the part that stands out to me. You know, it makes me think about how on Saturdays and Sundays I go to the park and I help hand out food to people. There can be some evil people, and some people really good people. It doesn’t matter where we are or who we are. There are some of both in the world.”

“The part that stands out to me is hearing Jesus, talking to his Father God…I guess it’s such a strong case of letting the disciples know that he is the Son of God, no question. He’s making sure that they know He is the Son of God. That seems like a strong message, God is the Father and Jesus is the Son” said Davis.

“All mine are yours and all yours are mine” said Fay, “We all belong to God, and to Jesus.”

“In your spiritual life, who do you pray to?” asked Davis

“I think I say Jesus, yes…praying to Jesus is what makes sense to me” said Fay. “But, I’m Catholic, so we pray in the name of all three, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. My mother raised us in the church and then we all kind of drifted away. I miss it though, and I know there really isn’t a reason not to go. I just need to get back to the Church I want to go to.”

“Is there something keeping you?” said Davis.

“Well, I end up going to help people…sometimes its like I’m doing work, helping others but that’s not Church.” said Fay

“Why am I thinking God is smiling hearing you say that!” said Davis, “I mean, maybe God is seeing you helping and hoping that you see that as God’s work, too.”

“Right, I know. But, it’s not the building. I know I also need to put my body in the building” said Fay.

“It makes me think, though, that if Jesus were here he might be the one out there helping people, in the name of God. Maybe the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are happy that you’re helping!” said Davis.

“Well, God is with us even right now” said Fay. “We can’t see him, but God is here!”

“I think maybe he’s in you!” said Davis, “You find yourself thinking about others, more than yourself. You’re giving them some of God, too.”

“I learned that from my mother, too” said Fay. “Going to church and helping others. I used to work at a nursing home, too, but that was where I hurt my back. Now, I’m retired and on disability. So, I have to find other ways to help. I miss the people, though, I liked my nursing home work.”

“It’s kind of a God moment for me” said Davis, “to think of all the people and places where you’ve been helping and showing God’s love. I don’t think many people do the kind of work that you do. It just seems to me that in your life, you walk the walk.”

“I walk it slow with this sciatica!” laughed Fay.

“But, you still walk it” said Davis. “That’s why God sends us into the world.”

This Sunday of the Ascension, we remember that we are the Body of Christ, the hands and feet of Christ in this world. Church is more than a building; it is our engagement with the world and our sustenance in community where we grow together as a community of faith. Both Davis and Fay find those places of Church in their lives of faith, in the stories of scripture, and in each other.