THE HOUR OF GLORY

Reflection for 7^th Sunday of Easter Year A

(Acts 1:12-14; 1 Pet 4:13-16; Jn 17:1-11)

1.0. The Cenacle

It was almost a tensed moment as the apostles watched Jesus Ascend. After Jesus’ Ascension, they returned to the upper room (The Cenacle) where they were staying. It was a solemn gathering as they devoted themselves to pray together with Mary the Mother of Jesus. Thus prayer became a way they expressed their hope in Jesus and His promise of the coming of the Holy Spirit. By uniting in prayer, they expressed their unity in faith in Jesus Christ. This also deepened their hope and love.

Furthermore, the beauty of this Cenacle of prayer shines out as the apostles gathered around Mary the Mother of Jesus. She became for them the most living memory of Jesus. How can you behold the face of Mary and not remember Jesus? The glory of Jesus is alive in her!

2.0.  The Hour of Jesus

“Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you.” Jesus prayed to the Father that the hour to send down His glory has come. Let us meditate on the timing of the glory! Think about how God who dwells in eternity has subjected His glory to time in Christ Jesus. The glory of God is greater than time, but in Jesus time can now contain God’s glory! Thus, at the appointed time, at the hour of salvation, Jesus invokes the glory of God. All flesh will share in this glory and eternal life, and return to God the glory that is His through Jesus Christ.

Therefore, Jesus is that locus in time through which we receive the glory of God. It is the hour of Jesus and the glory of Jesus that we are called to share. “Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory which I had with you before the world was made.” 

3.0.  The Hour of Glory

The hour of glory for us, therefore, is not in clock-time. It is the time of our encounter with Jesus; the time we hear His words and obey his commandment of love, the time we confess our sins and begin a new life, the time we receive Him warmly in the Eucharist, the time we endure wrongs and forgive others, etc. This hour of Jesus in our lives is equally the time we return glory to God. It is the moment we witness to Christ. In fact, it is the moment we proclaim through our endurance Jesus’ witness to the Father on the Cross. “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work which you gave me to do.”

That is why the second reading says, “Rejoice in so far as you share in Christ’s suffering, that you may also rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed.” Hence, we must dispose ourselves as in the Cenacle of prayer. Like the apostles gathered with Mary, we should constantly invoke the help of the Blessed Virgin Mary in our daily prayers. When the appointed time came, God sent His Son through a woman (Mary) (Gal 4:4). With the present challenges in our family and social lives, we are hungry for a taste of God’s glory. If we continue to devote our time and energy to prayer, our hour of glory will come. In fact, it is already here as we move to encounter Jesus today. AMEN.

Fr Jude Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R

Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,

Tedi-Muwo, Lagos.

Sunday May 24^th, 2020.