In his ‘High Priestly Prayer’ at the Last Supper Our Lord prepares his disciples for the last stage of his sojourn among us - not only the Cross and Resurrection but his Ascension when he will take his place at the Father’s right hand in glory.  “I am not praying for the world but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and  I am glorified in them.  And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you.”  The disciples and Our Lady are gathered in prayer.  The angels have encouraged them not to keep looking up in the sky but to let go of the former way in which they knew the Lord in the expectation that they will soon see him in a new, more intimate and more powerful way through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  The spiritual bond of baptism means we are united to him now that he is seated at the right hand of the Father.  As we approach Pentecost, we pray for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit to bring new life and hope to the Church and the world.  This prayer is not for realities detached from us -  we ARE the Church and we are in the midst of the world even if our ultimate homeland is in heaven.