Jesus’ visible ministry on earth in his human nature is complete.
The feast of the Ascension, last Thursday, marks this.
Jesus has ‘handed over’ to his disciples,
and they struggle with what that means.
We can imagine that, with all that has happened,
the disciples are confused, with emotions raw, and fear persisting.
They are daunted by the future, and by what they are to do.
We can feel much the same as Christians today.
How do the disciples respond?
The first reading, from the Acts of the Apostles, tells us.
Significantly, they respond as a community.
They gather in the upper room, and Luke, the author of the Acts,
simply says they joined in continuous prayer
– and he is talking about days and days of prayer…
What form do these days and days of prayer take?
Luke doesn’t say any more, so we don’t ‘know’,
but his gospel gives good clues.
I am sure the disciples remind each other what Jesus said and did,
they talk about their own individual encounters with Jesus:
what moved them, what puzzled them, what it all meant.
This kind of conversation,
listening with the heart and speaking from the heart,
is a form of prayer.
In their heart-to-hearts,
passages from the Old Testament take on new meanings
that interpret Jesus’ life, death and resurrection.
In particular, they see a completely new sense to several psalms:
they become prayers of praise for Jesus’ victory.
The psalms were, surely, an important part of their continuous prayer.
What else?
Jesus had taught them the ‘Our Father’, and had taught, by example,
the importance of spending quiet time in prayer,
so these too must have been part of their continuous prayer.
Do they also ‘break bread’ and ‘share the cup’? –
as Jesus told them to…. they must have,….
I imagine all this contained in Luke’s brief words that they
joined in continuous prayer
– a bit like extended Masses, with extra psalms,
with extra silence and with spiritual conversation –
and they did it all with Mary the mother of Jesus.
This is communal, community, prayer,
and, in response, the Holy Spirit transforms the community,
as we will hear next Sunday.
The situation the first disciples faced is special
precisely because they are the first disciples.
However, in every age and in every place,
the disciples of Jesus need the power, the passion,
the common purpose, the unity that the Holy Spirit brings.
We need these today, we need these here.
So, each year, these days between the Ascension and Pentecost
are a time of special prayer for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit,
an outpouring on all Christians, on the whole Catholic Church,
on Hallam diocese, on St William’s parish.
How does the Spirit shape a community?
Pope Francis’ message for today, World Communications Day,
stresses ‘speaking with the heart’.
To explain what he means, he quotes St Francis de Sales, who said:
‘In order to speak well, it is enough to love well’.
‘Speaking with the heart’ starts with love for the other person,
listening attentively and openly to them,
and speaking truthfully, with compassion and tenderness.
Then, ‘heart to heart’ communication is possible,
which opens us up to the Holy Spirit, building community.
So, as we call on the Holy Spirit to renew our Christian lives,
let us listen to Pope Francis, and have the courage
to have heart-to-heart faith conversations,
the courage to be a synodal church.