Before the first reading:

The evangelist Luke wrote two books aiming to educate pagan converts to Christianity about their new religion and its roots. This is the introduction to his second book.

After the psalm, before the second reading:

Many early people believed that a complex hierarchy of angels and spiritual powers stood between God and themselves, both mediating and interfering. The author of Ephesians wants his audience to feel confident of their access to God in Christ, and in Christ's superiority over all other powers.ple.

Before the gospel acclamation:

This is the absolute conclusion of Saint Matthew's gospel. It does not describe the ascension of Jesus, but it tells of a mission and frankly describes the disciples' lingering doubts.

Acts 1:1-11

The Literary Background: The "first book" mentioned here means the gospel of Saint Luke. "Theophilus" means "lover of God;" There may have been a real individual named Theophilus, for whom Luke wrote, or, more likely, this is a literary device by which Luke addresses a community of people who love God and are working to love each other.

In any case, the original audience for both the gospel and Acts were Gentile converts to Christianity, in cosmopolitan Greece, after the deaths of the apostles. These new members needed information about the origins and the spread of the community they were joining. In particular, it must have comforted them to learn that even the first, closest followers of Jesus misunderstood his intentions ("Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?") The book of Acts will go on to explain the early spread of Christianity among Jews, then rejection by mainstream Jews, successful outreach to pagans, then conflict within Christianity between members of Jewish origin and members with pagan roots. In other words, for its intended audience, the book puts everything into context.

Today's passage explains why the risen Jesus is no longer directly observable in the young church, but how that church is still carrying out his mission. Jesus hints at the gift of the Holy Spirit, which the Christians were going to use to explain their ongoing sense of purpose and direction.

Proclaiming it: Emphasize the sentence about waiting for "the promise of the Father, ...[to] be baptized with the Holy Spirit." That enables your hearers to relate this reading with the coming feast of Pentecost.

Jesus' last words, which you should emphasize appropriately, set the agenda for all of the book of Acts: "and you will be my witnesses ... to the ends of the earth."

Ephesians 1:17-23

The Literary Background: The ascension is a kind of enthronement of Jesus. The author of Ephesians describes God seating Jesus at his right hand, above all other authorities, in the second half of this reading. Each "principality, authority, power, and dominion" was thought to be a kind of spiritual power exercising some control and mediation between God and humanity. Whether they exist, and how many they are, is unimportant to the author of Ephesians. What counts is that Jesus is in charge.

Your Proclamation: The first half of the reading is about what can happen to us when God gives us the Spirit (another Pentecost reference). The promised benefits are wonderful. But, as you've seen, the grammar of this monstrous sentence is more than challenging. So in preparing to proclaim it, divide it not into sentences (subject, verb, object) but into images. Think of reading not a sentence but a list of phrases, like chapter titles in a book's table of contents. Some of the chapter titles refer to God:

• The Surpassing Greatness of His Power
• The Exercise of His Great Might

And some refer to our enjoyment of God's gifts:

• May the Eyes of Your Heart Be Enlightened
• The Hope that Belongs to His Call
• The Fullness of the One Who Fills All

Reading the passage this way is, admittedly, less ambitious than trying to give the hearers a perfect understanding of the theological logic. But that challenge is best left to your assembly's preacher. You, as lector, by setting your sights low, have a chance to give the congregation at least something.