Seventh Sunday of Easter – Year A

First Reading – Acts 1:12-14

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away; and when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bar­tholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphae′us and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. All these with one accord devoted themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. 

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 27:1, 4, 7-8

℟ I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

℟ I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.

One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.

℟ I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.

Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud, be gracious to me and answer me!

You have said, “Seek my face.” My heart says to you, “Your face, Lord, do I seek.”

℟ I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.

Second Reading – 1 Peter 4:13-16

But rejoice in so far as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief, or a wrongdoer, or a mischief-­maker; yet if one suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but under that name let him glorify God. 

Alleluia – John 14:18

℟ Alleluia!

I will not leave you desolate; I will come to you.

℟ Alleluia!

Gospel – John 17:1-11

When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him power over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work which you gave me to do; and now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory which I had with you before the world was made. I have manifested your name to the men whom you gave me out of the world; they were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you; for I have given them the words which you gave me, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am praying for them; I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours; all mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.”

The Ascension of the Lord

First Reading – Acts 1:1-11

In the first book, O Theo­ph′ilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commandment through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. To them he presented himself alive after his passion by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days, and speaking of the kingdom of God. And while staying with them he charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me, for John baptized with water, but before many days you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samar′ia and to the end of the earth.” And when he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 47:2-3, 6-7, 8-9

℟ God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.

For the Lord, the Most High, is awesome, a great king over all the earth.

He subdued peoples under us, and nations under our feet.

℟ God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.

Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises!

For God is the king of all the earth; sing praises with a psalm!

℟ God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.

God reigns over the nations; God sits on his holy throne.

The princes of the peoples gather as the people of the God of Abraham.

For the shields of the earth belong to God; he is highly exalted!

℟ God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.

Second Reading – Ephesians 1:17-23

The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power in us who believe, according to the working of his great might which he accomplished in Christ when he raised him from the dead and made him sit at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come; and he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the Church, which is his body, the fulness of him who fills all in all.

Alleluia – Matthew 28:19-20

℟ Alleluia!

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the close of the age.

℟ Alleluia!

Gospel – Matthew 28:16-20

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the close of the age.”

Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition, Ignatius Press, Copyright ⓒ 2006.