At times, it can be all too easy for me to romanticize discipleship and the lives of the apostles and early followers. I find myself drawn to their journeying with Jesus in His time of active ministry, drawn to their witnessing and assisting as He heals and preaches, as He prays and performs miracles. 

And, in this season of Easter, which is quickly drawing to its close, I am so readily attracted to the apostles’ experiences with the Risen Jesus. I relish the overwhelming joy in recognizing Him kindling a fire on the seashore as He prepares breakfast for His friends, knowing Him in the breaking of the bread, hearing His exhortations of peace and His summons to Love. 

Yet, we all know too well that discipleship is not without strain and struggle, suffering and sacrifice. We need look no further than Jesus’ own Passion or, in this Easter season, to the experiences of the early followers, like Stephen’s stoning in today’s first reading, or to our experiences of being misunderstood or woefully inadequate, worn or wandering, weary or forlorn.

And so, my prayer for all and each of us in this time of journeying from Easter into the “ordinary”:

Jesus, 

You prayed then and you pray now for us.

Help us to always remember

Your unceasing intercession,

Your earthly journey that held the fullness of joy and suffering, grit and love,

Your presence in and with us and ours in and with You now, and, we pray, forever.

Steep us in the Father’s Love more and more each moment, so fully that we cannot but proclaim in our words and, more pointedly, in the witness of our daily lives the unceasing reality of this Love for all creation. Let us not count cost or consequence, but spend ourselves freely and generously in love of God, Our Creator, and in generous service to the Creator’s beloved and ever-expansive creation.

Amen.