On this Seventh Sunday of Easter, we stand with the first disciples in the days between the Ascension and Pentecost. Jesus has been lifted from their sight, but the Spirit has yet to descend. It is a time of holy waiting.
In Acts, the risen Lord entrusts His followers to the Father and calls them to wait together in prayer. In Psalm 68, the God who “rides upon the clouds” who received the ascended Christ is the Lord who shelters the vulnerable. In John 17, Jesus prays that His own may be held, protected, and made one.
These readings remind us that the Church walks, like the disciples, in this very in-between place. Holy waiting. We live by promise, sustained by prayer, and upheld by the God who reigns in majesty and draws near in mercy, trusting in God's perfect timing.
Until Sunday, when our Deacon in Training will once again preach the sermon.
Father Karl