7th Sunday of Easter Year A (2023)

In most dioceses in the United States, the observance of the Solemnity of the Ascension is moved to the following Sunday, superseding the 7th Sunday of Easter. See readings and resources for the Ascension of the Lord Year A instead.

Mass Readings for the 7th Sunday of Easter Year A

• First Reading – Acts 1:12-14: “All these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer, together with some women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.”
• Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 27: “I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.”
• Second Reading – 1 Peter 4:13-16: “But whoever is made to suffer as a Christian should not be ashamed but glorify God because of the name.”
• Gospel – John 17:1-11: “I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me, because they are yours, and everything of mine is yours and everything of yours is mine, and I have been glorified in them.”

Themes for the 7th Sunday of Easter Year A

The readings for the 7th Sunday of Easter Year A remind us that even though Jesus is not with us in his human body, we are still connected to him and to each other in prayer. The first reading tells of how after the ascension of Jesus, his followers grow in community by praying together. The psalm expresses our longing for God. The second reading reminds us to glorify God always, even when we are suffering. And in the gospel Jesus prays as he prepares to ascend.

• Prayer
• Letting go
• Preparing for the next thing

See the Homilies and Reflections section and the More Thoughts section for further expansion on these readings and some reflection questions for the 7th Sunday of Easter Year A.

Catholic Prayers

Prayers bring us closer to God. We pray to change our own hearts and bring them into alignment with the heart of God. We pour ourselves out to God and know that we are heard. We also let God speak to us. See a collection of prayers on this site.

Prayers Based on the Psalms

The Book of Psalms is a book of prayers. The psalms express the author’s praise, thanksgiving, distress, or even anger. See a collection of prayers based on psalms.

Jesus Prays to the Father

Jeff Cavins discusses Jesus’ relationship with the Father.

The Power of Prayer

Fr. Mike Schmitz lays down the reasons we should pray and gives a few spot-on examples of how real life reflects the nature of prayer. Through prayer, God invites us into his will and gives us the dignity to participate in it, which strengthens our relationship with him.

Knowing God

From Scott Hahn. The unity of the early Church at Jerusalem is a sign of the oneness that Christ prays for in today’s Gospel. The Church is to be a communion on earth that mirrors the glorious union of Father, Son, and Spirit in the Trinity. Read on.

Hear, O Lord, the sound of my call;
have pity on me, and answer me.
Of you my heart speaks; you my glance seeks.

Psalm 27

Prayer allows us to see one another the way God our Father sees us, and to realize that we are brothers and sisters.

Pope Francis

Through prayer we can enter into a stable relationship with God, the source of true joy.

Pope Francis

Prayer is an expression of our need to respond to God’s love, which always precedes and sustains us. Christians pray in the knowledge that, although unworthy, we are still loved.

Pope Francis