As a lifelong Catholic and a theology major this is somewhat embarrassing to admit but … I never realized how many world-changing Catholic events occurred in one room. I just didn’t put two and two together. As you might already know (or maybe not!) I’m talking about the “Upper Room” -- the one we are first introduced to on Holy Thursday.
This realization came about thanks to Cardinal Frank Leo's new pastoral letter “That Blessed Upper Room” and I highly recommend you consider it as some spiritual food for thought this summer.
Last year, 54-year-old Cardinal Leo, who is archbishop of Toronto and the sixth youngest cardinal, wrote a pastoral letter about how the Kingdom of God is present and active.
“This year,” he wrote in his introduction “I would like to reflect together on the place and significance of The Upper Room in our lives, our families and in our communities of faith since it is primarily associated with major and pivotal events in the life of Jesus and of the early Church."
So ... how many events can you name that took place in this room? If you haven’t already started your mental list, I'll tell you that the Last Supper took place there (i.e. the Institution of the Eucharist and the gift of the priesthood).
But Cardinal Leo identifies nine different gifts from God that occurred in that room, he writes,
The Upper Room was a real physical dwelling/meeting place in Jerusalem at the time of Christ — but much, much more. It constituted an array of grace-filled events, an anointed sign of God’s redeeming love, new beginnings in Christ, a series of turning moments in the life of the worshiping Christian community
As the cardinal moves through each event (yes, you’ll have to read it to check that you got all nine correct), he provides a reflection “for learning and drawing personal connections with your lived experience”; an anecdote or example of a story of a lived experience of faith connected to the reflection; and “a more active analysis whereby we ask ourselves an array of questions — as many as you feel you want to answer.”
Pearls of truth
There are many pearls of truth throughout the letter. In the section about the Institution of the Eucharist, he writes,
When we celebrate holy Mass, we are gaining access to eternity, it is a foretaste of Heaven, a spiritual fraternity with the angels and the saints worshipping the one Triune God.
I could easily bring this to prayer for the next few months. And he follows it up with questions like, “Is the celebration of the Mass really the 'source and summit' — and the 'center' — of my life of faith, my life of prayer, my personal life, my relationships, my walk with the Lord, and my vocation?”
As I said, lots and lots of spiritual food for thought.
A novena of reading
The letter is under 30 pages and could be read in an afternoon, but I suggest that you take Cardinal Leo’s recommendation and treat it like a novena or retreat and spread out the nine parts – maybe over nine days, nine weeks, or even nine months. That way, when you read something like “Easter is truly a revolution in that all of humanity and the cosmos, my life and yours, has forever been altered because of it,” your eyes don’t just glaze over it.
Instead, we have the opportunity to read, re-read, and internalize this invitation to the Upper Room with Jesus.
It is an invitation, simply and profoundly, to encounter Jesus.
Cardinal Leo writes in his conclusion, “We are called to enter our Upper Room daily and experience the freshness and novelty of living for the Lord and witnessing to his truth and love, his dream for us, his compassion for all.”
