Meditation for June 11, Christ's Final Instruction

According to St. Luke, the last words pronounced by Our Lord are as follows, Stay in the city until you be endued with power from on high. (xxiv, 49.) That is the end. Our Lord is with the Apostles for the last time in the room in which He instituted the Sacrament of Love. He makes them verify the fulfilment of the prophecies in His person. He confirms them in their mission to preach the gospel to the whole world, exhorts them to support their teachings by their good example, then He promises the Holy Spirit and concludes: Stay in the city until you be endued with power from on high.

They leave the Cenacle, and follow again the road they walked together Holy Thursday evening; they go to the Mount of Olives; here are the streets of Jerusalem, the Gate, the Cedron bridge, the slopes on the other side of the valley, the scene of the Agony....They are now on the summit. Jerusalem lies below them with its magnificent temple shining in all its splendor. Be­yond the city - Mount Calvary.

Jesus blesses the little group for the last time, then rises above the earth....Angels come: Ye men of Galilee, why stand you looking up to heaven? (Acts 1, 2.) Then without the Master, they go back to Jerusalem and the Cenacle.

The instructions are explicit; the hour has not yet come for the Apostles to return to the world; it is now the time for prayer; their preparation is not complete. It is not yet time to set out on the mission, but rather the time to pray - wait and pray.

"O Jesus, teach me always to pray before acting. I wish to arrive too quickly, teach me to prepare before setting out. Make me under­stand that the secret of apostolic success lies in prayerful preparation."

_________________
Adapted from Meditations for Religious
by Father Raoul Plus, S.J. (© 1939, Frederick Pustet Co.)