Seventh Sunday of Easter and Ascension, Cycle A

Our free weekly email service provides priests and deacons with the following resources for each Sunday of the year. To sign up email, clergy@priestsforlife.org.

General Intercessions for the Feast of the Ascension, Cycle A

Celebrant: All things have been placed under Christ's feet. Through him, the Lord of the universe, we present our needs to the Father.

Deacon/Lector:

That God may strengthen all who are ordained to preach, baptize, and make disciples of all the nations, until the Lord returns again, we pray to the Lord...

That through the Ascension, public servants and all people may have a deeper understanding of the dignity of each and every human person, we pray to the Lord...

For all who have never heard of the saving Gospel of Christ, that through the missionary efforts of the Church, they may hear and believe, we pray to the Lord...

That the Holy Spirit may fill and console all who suffer from poverty, war, neglect, unfair treatment, or illness, we pray to the Lord...

That all who have died may have eternal rest, and all who mourn may look forward in hope to the return of the Lord, we pray to the Lord...

Celebrant:

Father,
your Son ascended into heaven,
giving us new hope of sharing your divine life.
Hear our prayers,
and keep us faithful until he comes again.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

[Where Ascension is not transferred to Sunday]: General Intercessions for the Seventh Sunday of Easter, Cycle A

Celebrant: With trust in the One who speaks to us from above and knows all our needs, we now pray.

Deacon/Lector:

That all who have been entrusted with the Word of the Lord may proclaim it without hesitation or fear, we pray to the Lord...

That as Christ's disciples who live in a Culture of Death, we may effective witnesses to the Gospel of Life which has been entrusted to us, we pray to the Lord...

For all who suffer for being a Christian, that they may carry the cross with joy and experience the consolation of the Holy Spirit, we pray to the Lord...

For family members who have strayed from the Church, that our example of holiness may bring them back quickly, we pray to the Lord...

For family members and parishioners in the hospital or nursing homes, or seriously ill at home, that the healing Spirit of God may be upon them, we pray to the Lord...

That those who have died may have eternal rest, and that we may always thank the Lord for their lives, we pray to the Lord...

Celebrant:

Father,
You have made Your Word known to us
In Jesus, Your Son.
As you answer our prayers,
Give us grace to be his witnesses in the world,
for He is Lord forever and ever. Amen.

Human Life Exalted

Jesus prayed on the night before he died, "Father, give me the glory I had with you before the world began." How is the glory he has in the Ascension different from the glory he had "before the world began?" It differs only in that now, he has it in a human nature. Our humanity has been taken to the heights of heaven, fulfilling the destiny God intended for human life from the beginning. Revelation 3:21 declares, "To the one who gains the victory, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne." God’s plan for us is not just that we will gather around the throne or fall down before the throne, but that we will sit with him on the throne! This hope extended to the human family by the Gospel is directly contradicted when the same human beings destined for the heights of heaven are attacked by violence, degraded in their dignity, or put to death by things like abortion. The human nature Jesus brings to glory in the Ascension is the same human nature you and I share, and the same human nature that the babies in the womb share. Celebrating the Ascension in daily life means treating each human life as one destined to sit with Christ on his throne.

The Ascension is a powerful feast on which to preach the sanctity of human life, because at its core, this feast is about our human nature being exalted to the heights of heaven.

The “Bulletin Insert” above contains a synopsis of what direction the homily of this Sunday can take, whether it is the Feast of the Ascension, or the Seventh Sunday of Easter (on which the Gospel reading for this year contains the quote from John 17 about the glory Jesus had before the world began).

The faithful can be encouraged to use this Sunday as a launching point to pray each day this week to the Holy Spirit, as we approach Pentecost. The Spirit, who is the Advocate, makes us advocates when he fills our hearts – advocates for the weakest and most vulnerable among us, including the unborn. Priests for Life has prepared a special pro-life “Pentecost Novena” prayer that people can download from www.PrayerCampaign.org.