Author: admin

***

Gospel: John 17: 20-26

Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying:
“I pray not only for these,
but also for those who will believe in me through their word,
so that they may all be one,
as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
that they also may be in us,
that the world may believe that you sent me.
And I have given them the glory you gave me,
so that they may be one, as we are one,
I in them and you in me,
that they may be brought to perfection as one,
that the world may know that you sent me,
and that you loved them even as you loved me.
Father, they are your gift to me.
I wish that where I am they also may be with me,
that they may see my glory that you gave me,
because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
Righteous Father, the world also does not know you,
but I know you, and they know that you sent me.
I made known to them your name and I will make it known,
that the love with which you loved me
may be in them and I in them.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

***

***

Twenty percent of John’s Gospel comes from one conversation that Jesus has with his friends – and it happens to be during his final night on earth. Today we refer to it as the, “Last Supper Discourse,” covering four chapters in John’s Gospel.

We’ve been reading through it over the last number of days.

In today’s portion, the Lord reveals several important truths: 

He prays for us.

He loves us.

He longs for us.

He has entrusted us with his ministry.

***

I find this a fascinating and beautiful truth. In his final hours, Jesus looks at the men who will betray and abandon him. He washes their feet, feeds them with his very Self, and calls them his “friends.”

Then he prays for them – as he prays for us – that we would carry on his ministry in the world.

Clearly, the Lord is not dwelling on the disciples’ faults or failings; if he did, then he’d neither trust them nor call them his friends.

Rather, he sees the good in them; their potential; and their budding faith, which will eventually be restored and help to change the world.

What the disciples will learn is that God’s power is made perfect in their weakness. What they cannot accomplish on their own – the courage they lack, the faith they need, the words they must find – will all come from the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

***

The same is true in our own lives.

If today feels like you’re standing at the base of an impossible mountain, which you must climb, remember this: God’s power is made perfect in your weakness.

In allowing Jesus to share the yoke of life with you, you’ll not only overcome what lies before you, you’ll also glorify God along the way. 

“Do not be afraid,” the Lord says, “I have overcome the world.”

***

***

Image credits: (1) Wholeness/Justice/Onenness, jdm.org (2) The Last Supper, Vicente Juan Macip (3) Jesus Culture, X.com

***

Acts 20: 28-38

At Miletus, Paul spoke to the presbyters of the Church of Ephesus:
“Keep watch over yourselves and over the whole flock
of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you overseers,
in which you tend the Church of God
that he acquired with his own Blood.
I know that after my departure savage wolves will come among you,
and they will not spare the flock.
And from your own group, men will come forward perverting the truth
to draw the disciples away after them.
So be vigilant and remember that for three years, night and day,
I unceasingly admonished each of you with tears.
And now I commend you to God
and to that gracious word of his that can build you up
and give you the inheritance among all who are consecrated.
I have never wanted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing.
You know well that these very hands
have served my needs and my companions.
In every way I have shown you that by hard work of that sort
we must help the weak,
and keep in mind the words of the Lord Jesus who himself said,
‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

When he had finished speaking
he knelt down and prayed with them all.
They were all weeping loudly
as they threw their arms around Paul and kissed him,
for they were deeply distressed that he had said
that they would never see his face again.
Then they escorted him to the ship.

The Word of the Lord.

***

***

“They threw their arms around Paul and kissed him…They were deeply distressed, because they would never see his face again. Then they escorted him to the ship.”

***

For the last three years, Paul has been living with a Christian community in Ephesus, which he helped to establish. Now the time of his departure is at hand; it has been revealed to him in prayer that he must leave for Jerusalem, revealing Paul’s responsiveness to the Spirit.

“What will happen to me there,” he says, “I do not know.”

While this community was heartbroken by his departure, it was a blessing in disguise – at least for us Christians today.

***

Paul was always a man on the go. He’d establish one community, then depart for another. In his absence, he wrote at least fourteen pastoral letters, encouraging these early Christians to remain steadfast in their faith.

These letters, along with the Acts of the Apostles, form almost half of the New Testament. 

So, what do Paul’s words reveal about the early Church? And what was some of his parting advice? 

***

From the beginning, there was the handing on of apostolic authority, which the Catholic Church has continued for 100 generations. This power was also given to Paul, who ordained priests through the laying on of hands.

With every departure, Paul warned these communities that “savage wolves” – false preachers – would come among them, unraveling some of his hard fought teaching. But they were encouraged to remain faithful to his teachings – as we all are today.

Finally, Paul lived a life of surrender – freely accepting whatever happened to him: rejection, imprisonment, even death, which he will receive upon arriving in Rome.

In spite of any trial he faced, everything Paul did was for the glory of God.

May his courageous spirit spurn us on to continue God’s work today.

Saint Paul, pray for us.

***

***

Image credits: (1) National Geographic (2) Harbor Scene with Saint Paul’s Departure from Caesaria, Jan Brueghel the Elder (3) Enjoying Christ, www.agodman.com

***

Gospel: John 15: 9-17

Jesus said to his disciples:
“As the Father loves me, so I also love you.
Remain in my love.
If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love,
just as I have kept my Father’s commandments
and remain in his love.

“I have told you this so that my joy might be in you
and your joy might be complete.
This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.
No one has greater love than this,
to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
You are my friends if you do what I command you.
I no longer call you slaves,
because a slave does not know what his master is doing.
I have called you friends,
because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.
It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you
and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain,
so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.
This I command you:  love one another.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

***

***

We find something extraordinary unfolding in our first reading, which is essential to the foundation of our Catholic faith: apostolic succession.

After the betrayal and death of Judas, the Apostles have dropped from twelve to eleven. Given the Lord’s command to, “go out and make disciples of all nations,” the Church needs leaders who bear the authority of Christ.

Two were proposed. One was chosen, Matthias.

Interestingly, Matthias is recorded as accompanying Jesus from the very beginning of his public ministry all the way to his ascension. He saw the works that Jesus performed, and believed.

Tradition tells us that, after being appointed an apostle, Matthias went east, bringing the Good News into often hostile territory, where he preached; debated; converted some; and, at last, was martyred.

***

What can his story say to us today?

***

Like Matthias, you’ve been appointed to spread the Gospel, even at some personal cost, sometimes to people with skeptical hearts or flimsy faith.

You may find yourself the only Christian in your home; the only one who prays or goes to Mass; the only Catholic at work; the only spiritual person in your circle of friends.

But the Spirit of the Lord is upon you, empowering you to, “go and bear fruit that will remain.” 

Often that fruit isn’t borne out of logical arguments or fire and brimstone style preaching; rather, “love one another,” the Lord says, “as I have loved you.”

That will convert the world.

Or, at least, a good share of it.

***

***

Image credits: (1) Christ Giving the Keys to Saint Peter, Peter Paul Rubens (2) Matthias the Apostle, Peter Paul Rubens (3) Howard Carter