My Family Prayer Book

 2026-05-17 Ascension of Our Lord    Acts 1:1-11 by St Luke Acts opens with a prologue (verses 1–5), which parallels the Gospel’s prologue (Luke 1:1–4), by addressing an otherwise unknown person, Theophilus (either Luke’s benefactor or a shorthand term for any believer, since the name means “lover of God”). The Korahites were descendants of Korah, a Levite who famously led a rebellion against Moses in the wilderness (Numbers 16). While the earth swallowed Korah and his followers, Scripture notes a significant detail: "However, the sons of Korah did not die" (Numbers 26:11). Jesus orders the disciples to stay in Jerusalem “to wait for the promise of the Father,” which is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit they will experience 10 days later, on the day of Pentecost.  “This power will have a purpose, to make these ordinary people into Jesus’ witnesses first to the Samaritans, their kinfolk who have a deep inter-generational hatred for each other, then to the Gentile acro...

  2022-May-29: The Ascension of the Lord   Some congregations celebrate Ascension of Our Lord on Thursday, as that comes 40 days after Easter.  Acts 1:1-11 Luke addresses both his books to Theophilus  (a combination of the Greek noun theos , translated “God,” and the verb phileo , meaning “to love” or “cherish”) perhaps refering to a historical person and/or symbolically to readers who consider themselves as the friends/lovers of God. The first book, the Gospel according to St Luke portrays the birth, life, death and resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The second book, Acts of the Apostles recounts the events after the ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ.  Luke and Acts both describe the ascension (Luke 24:50-51, Acts 1:9) Today's reading talks about the Ascension into Heaven but before going Jesus tells his disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the seminal event of the Descent of the Holy Spirit, which will in turn empower them, transforming them into Christ’s “...