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Saturday, April 20, 2002

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Acts 9:31-42
Psalm 116
John 6:60-69

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go into the upper room

"Peter set out with them as they asked. Upon his arrival they took him upstairs to the room." —Acts 9:39

Peter raised Tabitha from the dead in an upper room in Joppa. This is not the first or last time we hear of the "upper room." On the evening beginning the day of Jesus' death on Calvary, Jesus had the Last Supper and the first Mass in an upper room (Lk 22:12). The upper room was first the place associated with covenant-blood (Mt 26:28), the washing of the feet (Jn 13:5), and Jesus' sacrificial death (Lk 22:19). Before the first Christian Pentecost, the upper room was a place of prayer, Mary's prayer (Acts 1:14). Additionally, it is a place of the Holy Spirit and witnessing for the risen Christ (see Acts 1:8). Finally, the upper room is a place of another Mass, the preaching of God's word, Christian community, faith, and, once again, resurrection from the dead (Acts 20:8ff).

Spiritually, all the upper rooms are one. Jesus' death on Calvary, His resurrection, the Holy Spirit of Pentecost, the Church, Mass, Mary, and miracles are united in God's plan of salvation. Mass was originally celebrated in the upper room, and spiritually it is always celebrated in the upper room. Go daily into the upper room.

Prayer:  Father, may I daily go forth from the upper room to make disciples of all nations.

Promise:  "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe; we are convinced that You are God's Holy One." —Jn 6:68-69

Praise:  Jesus healed Lou of cancer.

Reference:  (For a related teaching, order our tape on Every Mass Should be Spirit-Filled on audio AV 49-1 or video V-49.)

Nihil Obstat:  Reverend Giles H. Pater, November 15, 2001


Imprimatur:  †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, November 16, 2001