Reading #1: Acts 1:6-14
⁶So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” ⁷He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. ⁸But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” ⁹And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. ¹⁰And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, ¹¹and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” ¹²Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. ¹³And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. ¹⁴All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

Reading #2: Psalm 68:1-10, 32-35. To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A Song.
¹God shall arise, his enemies shall be scattered; and those who hate him shall flee before him! ²As smoke is driven away, so you shall drive them away; as wax melts before fire, so the wicked shall perish before God! ³But the righteous shall be glad; they shall exult before God; they shall be jubilant with joy! ⁴Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts; his name is the Lord; exult before him! ⁵Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation. ⁶God settles the solitary in a home; he leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a parched land. ⁷O God, when you went out before your people, when you marched through the wilderness, ⁸the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain, before God, the One of Sinai, before God, the God of Israel. ⁹Rain in abundance, O God, you shed abroad; you restored your inheritance as it languished; ¹⁰your flock found a dwelling in it; in your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy.

³²O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God; sing praises to the Lord, ³³to him who rides in the heavens, the ancient heavens; behold, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice. ³⁴Ascribe power to God, whose majesty is over Israel, and whose power is in the skies. ³⁵Awesome is God from his sanctuary; the God of Israel⁠—he is the one who gives power and strength to his people. Blessed be God!

Reading #3: 1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11
^4:12Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. ¹³But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. ¹⁴If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

^5:6Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, ⁷casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. ⁸Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. ⁹Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. ¹⁰And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. ¹¹To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Reading #4: John 17:1-11
¹When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, ²since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. ³And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. ⁴I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. ⁵And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. ⁶“I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. ⁷Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. ⁸For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. ⁹I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. ¹⁰All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. ¹¹And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.