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Ask and Your Joy Will Be Full
Where We Are
Alleluia! Saturday of the Sixth Week of Easter brings us to the close of Jesus's farewell discourse. Tomorrow is the Seventh Sunday of Easter, and Pentecost is just over a week away. Today, Jesus speaks with a new directness. The parables and proverbs are fading; he is speaking plainly now. He came from the Father into the world, and he is leaving the world to return to the Father. In Acts, a new character enters the story: Apollos, an eloquent Alexandrian Jew who knows the Scriptures but needs Priscilla and Aquila to complete his understanding.
The Word
"Until now, you have not requested anything in my name. Ask, and you shall receive, so that your joy may be full" (John 16:24). Jesus opens a direct line between the disciples and the Father. No longer will they need to approach God through intermediaries or veiled language. The hour is coming when they will ask in Jesus's name, and the Father himself will respond, not because Jesus needs to intercede, but because "the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me." Jesus then makes the clearest possible statement of his identity: "I went forth from the Father, and I have come into the world. Next I am leaving the world, and I am going to the Father."
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Reflect
There is a beautiful progression in prayer throughout John's Gospel. The disciples began as followers who watched Jesus pray. They learned to ask questions. Now, at the end, Jesus tells them they can go directly to the Father in his name. The veil is being removed. Access is being granted.
The phrase "so that your joy may be full" reveals the purpose of prayer. It is not primarily about getting things from God; it is about the relationship itself. When we ask the Father in Jesus's name, we are participating in the communion that exists within the Trinity. The asking is itself an act of intimacy, and intimacy produces joy.
Apollos's story in Acts offers a lovely parallel. He is fervent and knowledgeable, but his understanding is incomplete. He knows the baptism of John but not the full revelation of Christ. Priscilla and Aquila do not dismiss him or shame him. They "took him aside and expounded the Way of the Lord to him more thoroughly." Growth in truth is a gentle, communal process. None of us has the full picture alone.
Jesus's plain statement, "I went forth from the Father, and I have come into the world," is the Incarnation in a single sentence. And "I am leaving the world, and I am going to the Father" is the Ascension. The entire arc of salvation compressed into two clauses. This is what the Spirit will help the disciples understand fully after Pentecost.
Living It
Bring one specific, honest request to the Father today in Jesus's name. Do not edit or polish it. Simply ask, knowing that the Father himself loves you.
Reflect on your prayer life. Have you been asking? Or have you been trying to handle everything on your own? Jesus invites you into a relationship where asking is not weakness but connection.
Be like Priscilla and Aquila today: if someone has a partial understanding, gently help them see more, without condescension. And be open to learning from others who see what you have missed.
Prayer
Father, you love us because we love your Son and believe he came from you. Give us the courage to ask for what we need, trusting that you hear us. Fill our joy to overflowing as we draw near to you in Jesus's name. Teach us to see more of your truth each day, with humility and gratitude. Amen.
Today's reflection draws from John 16:23-28 and Acts 18:23-28 (CPDV), per the Ordo Lectionum Missae.
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