Gospel Reading – John 15:18-21
Jesus said to his disciples: “If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you. Remember the word I spoke to you, ‘No slave is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. And they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know the one who sent me.”
The Gospel of the Lord
The Mass intention is for Teresa Dunne RIP
Reflection:
Jesus in today’s gospel warns us when He said: “If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first…. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you,”. What does Jesus mean when he says “the world?”
The “world” in Scripture refers to that society of people who are hostile towards God and opposed to his will. When Jesus talks of persecutions also, he was referring to the sufferings and persecutions his disciples would undergo at the hands of the Jews and the Romans in proclaiming his teachings.
The “world” that rejects Jesus and His disciples can expect the same treatment. Jesus leaves no middle ground for his followers. We are either for Him or against Him, for his kingdom of light or for the kingdom of darkness.
• Which Kingdom do I want and why?
• How do I see the world at this moment in time?