We return to Ordinary Time this Sunday, and with this new season we focus on what it means to be a person who is called by God for some definite purpose. Elisha recognized God's call in Elijah's greeting and prepared immediately to follow. The people who came to Jesus seemed ready to follow, yet each had reasons to linger behind. As people who are given the freedom to follow or to stay behind, we must ask ourselves what we are ready to do for the sake of Christ and the call of the gospel. What are you called to do at this time in your life? Are you prepared to leave behind the things that get in the way of living as a Christian?

The crowd that followed Jesus to the deserted place was fed, body and spirit. Jesus wanted them to know that in his presence they would find care and compassion. He would not let them go hungry. Like Abram who encountered God in the bread and wine offered by Melchizedek, they experienced first-hand the abundance of God’s love. These sacred meals prefigured the meal most profound, the supper shared by Jesus and his disciples on the night before he died, the feast in which we share in the Eucharist. Today we celebrate the solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. On this day, we appreciate anew the great love of Jesus Christ for us and for the world and experience first-hand the presence of Christ in the sacred meal.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. We say these words as we make the sign of the cross, the sign of God’s saving love for us in Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. God who created the heavens, earth, and all who dwell in it. Jesus Christ, through whom we are offered salvation and peace. The Holy Spirit, who breathes life, leads us to the truth, and strengthens us to live as God’s holy people. On this Solemnity, let us pause to reflect upon the mystery of the Holy Trinity, three persons in one God. As we name the mystery, may we come to know God’s love more deeply and live it more profoundly.

In today’s Gospel Luke, the author of Acts, links the “time of Pentecost” to the Jewish Feast of Weeks. This was a harvest festival, fifty days after Passover. The feast became a celebration of God's gift of the Torah, the law of Moses, remembering Exodus 19. Luke suggests that just as the Feast of Weeks was a culmination of Passover, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was a culmination of the Resurrection.

The celebration of the Ascension of our Lord occurs distinctively this year, when the two most detailed descriptions of the event, both written by Luke the evangelist, are brought together in today’s readings. We hear both the concluding verses from Luke’s Gospel, the first volume of his work, and the first verses of Acts, his second volume. For Luke, the Ascension is the hinge of his two-volume work. The evangelist apparently thought the story of the Ascension was important enough to tell twice.

The sixth Sunday of Easter moves us toward the feast of Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit to the early Church. Today’s Gospel describes Jesus at the Last Supper, foretelling the coming of the Spirit to the community of Jesus. Jesus combines the promise of the Spirit with his gift of peace to his disciples. He foresees that the community must be grounded in his love, which provides peace, to face the tumult of the Crucifixion, and later, the trials of the early Church.

In the first sentence of today’s Gospel passage from John, Jesus’ address at the Last Supper, the words “glorify” or “glorified” appear five times. For John, glory has to do with honor and reputation, the primary characteristic of a person. John thus invites us to reflect upon what God's glory fully means. God is glorified when God's truest nature is revealed, as the God who loves.

In the time of Jesus, when multiple flocks of sheep would be gathered, protecting the flock depended heavily on the shepherd’s personal recognition of individual sheep, by sight and sound. In today’s Gospel, Jesus uses this imagery to speak of how Jesus — with the Father — protects those whom God loves —that is, everyone. Forces that pull us away from God are ultimately no match for the fierce love that God has for us.

The Easter season provides us an opportunity to reflect upon who we are as Church, in light of the first experiences of Jesus’ followers. From today’s Gospel, we realize that all we do is founded on our friendship with and trust in Jesus, as witnessed in Jesus’ dialogue with Peter. From Revelation, in the image of Jesus as the sacrificial Lamb, we can anticipate suffering for the sake of love for God and for others.

In Jesus’ first appearance to his disciples, as described in today’s Gospel, Jesus sends the disciples, and all who follow him: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” Jesus speaks to us here: we the Church are a “sent people,” sent to participate in God’s mission, that is, God’s purposes and activity for all of humanity. Like Jesus was sent to Israel, we are sent to witness to our world of the boundless love of God, and to offer an alternative way of living based on that love.

The story of Easter reveals that the world has begun a new day. The darkness of the Crucifixion has opened into the light of Easter. Like the dawn that gradually opened to the disciples on the first Easter morning, we slowly begin to see what the light of faith reveals. Death will not have the final word, because Christ is risen and we will share in his resurrection. Injustice and suffering will not continue forever, because God’s victory over sin has begun, and will be completed when Christ returns.

One of the best ways to remember something truly important is to set it to music. It can be easily recalled and sung by heart and passed on. As you focus on the scriptures for Palm Sunday, it might be helpful to think of them as past, present, and future versions of the same story. In Isaiah, we hear one of four hymns referring to the “Suffering Servant” that paints a poignant picture prefiguring Jesus’ crucifixion.

Isaiah prophesies for the Lord: “Remember not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not; see, I am doing something new!” One of the most dangerous things that we can do is get stuck in our old ways. As individuals, as parishes, as I nations we can say, “We’ve always done it that way,” and miss calls to growth and change. Throughout this Lent and our lives, God continues to call us to life, and we should celebrate that!