Rev. Fr. Gabriel AZEEZ

 

Grace and peace to you dear brothers and sisters in the Lord. It is always a great joy to share the word of the Lord, which is the power of God into the salvation of humankind.

 

Today, being the seventh Sunday in Easter period, we are reminded of what a true Church ought to be. The readings today place us in a holy waiting room. In Acts 1:12-14, the disciples return to Jerusalem and go to the upper room. There they “devoted themselves to prayer” with Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the other women. Jesus has ascended, but Pentecost has not yet come. In that gap, they do one thing: they pray.

 

With the presentation of the first reading of today, it became clear that the Church is a house of prayer. Not a social club, not a political platform, not a business center, not a place to gratify our emotion. Rather, a house of prayer. Jesus said in Isaiah 56:7, “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” The upper room in Acts is the first picture of that. It is small, ordinary, but full of the presence of God because prayer is happening there.

 

But what does a “house of prayer” look like in our time? A house of noise, a house of commotion? A house of show-off and many other things we can’t imagine. Let us take a step back and have a rethink about what a Church should be and how we can form our home and family to become a befitting Church for God.

 

With the examples given by the apostles today, it is crystal clear that there is no place God cannot hear our prayers. Prayer was the first response, not the last resort for the apostles.  Too often we pray only when WhatsApp groups are circulating “prayer for a sick member.” But the disciples prayed before the crisis came. They prayed in the waiting. In human life, we face anxiety, exams, job interviews, family tension. If prayer is only fire-fighting, we will be burnt out. When prayer is the atmosphere we live in, like the upper room, we face life with peace. Jesus Himself prayed before every major step: before choosing apostles, before the Cross, before ascending. Prayer orders the soul.

 

The Church is not a museum where we displayed saints but rather a hospital where sick people receive healing. The upper room had Peter, who denied Christ, and John, who stood at the Cross. It had former tax collectors and zealots. Yet they prayed together. Jesus prays in John 17:11, “Holy Father, protect them in your name so that they may be one, as we are one.” In our families and parishes today, we are divided by politics, tribe, money, gossip. A house of prayer cannot be a house of division. It is said that when neighbors unite, they lift a heavy load. Unity is not sameness. It is a shared direction toward Christ. When we kneel together, our pride kneels too.

 

When we look at the second reading of today, Peter says, “Rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings” 1 Pt 4:13. The early Church was insulted for the name of Christ, yet they kept praying. Prayer does not remove the Cross, but it changes how we carry it. Think of Jesus in Gethsemane. He sweated blood, but after prayer He stood up and walked to Calvary. It has being said that he who prays does not fall alone. In our human existence, we all carry hidden crosses: sickness, unemployment, betrayal. The Church as a house of prayer becomes a hospital for the soul, where burdens are shared and Christ strengthens us.

 

Jesus calls His disciples “those whom you gave me” Jn 17:9. In prayer, we remember who we belong to. We are not defined by our job title, our tribe, or our failures. We belong to God. In a world that sells identity through social media likes and wealth, prayer re-centers us. Psalm 63:1 says, “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you.” When we pray, we remember that before we do anything for God, we are loved by God. That is the foundation of human dignity.

 

Dear brothers and sisters, the world is noisy. Families are breaking, young people are losing hope, and even in the Church we feel tired. But the answer is not to abandon the upper room. It is to return to it. Let our homes become small upper rooms where the Rosary is prayed, where families talk to God together. Let our parish remain a house of prayer where everyone feels welcome, not judged. And let our hearts be a temple where Christ dwells 1 Cor 6:19.

 

As we wait for Pentecost, may we be found like the disciples: together, praying, and expectant. Because a Church that prays is a Church that lives, and a people who pray are a people who cannot be broken.

 

May the Lord who prayed for us in John 17 continue to keep us in His name, until we see Him face to face. Amen. Shalom.