May 17, 2026 – 7th Sunday of Easter
Reflection by Rev. Leonard N. Peterson
Theology often reaches for the stars but sometimes cancels the trip because it gets lost in technical language that holds it back. To speak with any warmth about the great “Uncaused Cause” is not the language of poetry or song. So it is delightful for us to learn from Holy Scripture that our God is a loving family of Three Persons bound together by love. We hear about it and soon enough we not only long to be known by God but also to be loved by Him as well. Scripture tells us we are.
So it is that the original members of the Church had a certain confidence born from meeting and living with the risen Christ. When He promised them that He would send an Advocate, or Counselor, they automatically took Him at His word. So, what to do in the meantime? Pray.
Ah, there it is, the one item we frequently forget about when we’re in a difficult “place” in our lives, or when we have run out of our own resources to stay patient, hopeful, or confident.
Scholars of the Bible tell us, after reflecting on a passage like the one we hear today from John’s Gospel, that to possess life is to know the living Trinity in a bond of love. But how do bonds of love form? How do friendships thrive and grow? By spending time with the other person. By experiencing all the twists and turns involved in living on this great blue ball spinning on its axis day after day with God at our center. That is the essence of prayer. We do it often with words but sometimes with our respectful silence. Considering who we are with, our very Savior, listening is more of a priority than any of our talk.
In this world of talk all around us, available “24/7/365,” as they say, you might think listening is not important, or maybe a non-productive exercise in futility. What does the psalmist have God say? “Be still and know that I am God.” Turn off the big turntable of distraction and the smaller one of “ego” that makes us off-center. Stop what you’re doing and be “in the tent” with God as Moses was in the Exodus. Set aside perhaps 15 minutes to start and decide that in your day, “this belongs to God.” Let it become a habit. It will keep you focused and calm at your center over time.
I note that our local PBS radio station offers a meditation time every day at 11:00 AM. That is the idea. Even if 11:00 AM might not be your best time, it shows that the producers of the program honor the habit of stopping the rush and being a thoughtful and loving person with God as your companion. The gathering of the Apostles with Mary and some other devoted women in that Upper Room as a unified family reflects the family oneness of the three Divine Persons. Today the Third Person comes to them with sound and power, signifying everything they need to know. And they rejoice in a rare peace through something called “prayer.”
“Prayer provides power, poise, peace, and purpose.”
Rev. Peterson’s Reading & Gospel Summary
Reading I: Acts 1: 12-14
Returning to the Upper Room, the Apostles and Mary with some women supporters turn to prayer as they wait for the coming of the Spirit.
Reading II: 1 Peter 4; 13-16
Sharing in Christ’s sufferings as a Christian makes a person available to share in His glory.
The Gospel: John 17: 1-11a
To possess life is to know the living Trinity in a true bond of love. The family unity of the Apostles reflects the family oneness of the three divine Persons.