7th Sunday of Easter

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 instead.

We are created with a longing for God. Prayer is a way to connect with God. Even though Jesus is not with us in human form, we can speak to Him every day. This is the focus of the 7th Sunday of Easter.

Click on the appropriate year below to see resources, themes, homilies, games, lesson plans, and more for your youth ministry, classroom, or family church.

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.”

Mass Readings for the 7th Sunday of Easter Year B

• First Reading – Acts 1:15-17, 20A, 20C-26: “Then they gave lots to them, and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was counted with the eleven apostles.”
• Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 103: The Lord has set his throne in heaven.”
• Second Reading – 1 John 4:11-16: “God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him.”
• Gospel – John 17:11B-19: “Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one.”

Mass Readings for the 7th Sunday of Easter Year C

• First Reading – Acts 7:55-60: “Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked up intently to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and Stephen said, ‘Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.'”
• Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 97: “The Lord is king, the most high over all the earth.”
• Second Reading – Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20: “Behold, I am coming soon. I bring with me the recompense I will give to each according to his deeds. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
• Gospel – John 17:20-2: “Holy Father, I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me.”

Learn more about the difference between a Bible and a Lectionary, how the Lectionary is arranged, and translations of the Bible used at Mass.