On that day you will ask nothing of me. Very truly, I tell you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete. “I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures, but will tell you plainly of the Father. On that day you will ask in my name. I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf;for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.
I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and am going to the Father.”
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Jesus’ words in today’s gospel were spoken to his apostles during the Last Supper. They are equally important for us today as we prepare to celebrate the feast of the Ascension. Jesus promises to ask the Father for whatever each of us—as well as our families and co-workers, neighbors and friends—might need. “Ask and you shall receive,” Jesus says, “that your joy may be full.”
Amidst the busy-ness of this weekend, take a few moments to ponder whatever you wish to “ask” God for. As we celebrate Jesus’ reunion with the Father, what requests do I wish to place in Jesus’ hands? What persons and situations among my family and neighbors and friends do I entrust in a special way to the Father’s loving concern? And, for myself, what do I really need deep down in my heart, that my joy “may be full”?
—the Jesuit prayer team
A hymn of glory let us sing!
New hymns throughout the world shall ring: Alleluia Alleluia!
Christ, by a road before untrod,|
Ascends unto the throne of God: Alleluia Alleluia, Alleluia!
—Text: Venerable Bede; Tune: Lasst Uns Effreuen. © 1996, GIA Publications, Inc.
