Gospel: John 17:11b-19
Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying:
“Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me,
so that they may be one just as we are one.
When I was with them I protected them in your name that you gave me,
and I guarded them, and none of them was lost
except the son of destruction,
in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
But now I am coming to you.
I speak this in the world
so that they may share my joy completely.
I gave them your word, and the world hated them,
because they do not belong to the world
any more than I belong to the world.
I do not ask that you take them out of the world
but that you keep them from the evil one.
They do not belong to the world
any more than I belong to the world.
Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth.
As you sent me into the world,
so I sent them into the world.
And I consecrate myself for them,
so that they also may be consecrated in truth.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
The Mass intention is a Thanksgiving Mass.
Reflection:
On the eve of His passion and death, Jesus prayed for His disciples. I could sense the depth of Jesus’ love for His followers when He entrusted them to the Father. He desired the good of His flock and asked His Father to “keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one”. In another verse, He implored God to “keep them from the evil one.” Just as unity between Christ and His followers is important, unity among the same followers is vital.
St John XXIII once wrote: “Unless the faithful remain bound together by the same ties of virtue, worship, and sacrament, and all hold fast to the same belief, they cannot be perfectly united with the Divine Redeemer, the universal Head, so as to form with him one visible and living body.”
- How can you contribute to the unity among Christians?
- How do the sacraments unite you with Jesus and with one another?
- “As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world.” How have you responded to the mission Jesus entrusts to you?
Lord Jesus, thank You for Your Word today. Make us realise the value of belonging to the Church so that we may strive to break every barrier that hinders us from joyfully proclaiming Your Gospel to all. Amen.
(Pietro)
Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane
Heinrich Hofmann, 1890