Wednesday of the Seventh Week of Easter
Lectionary: 299
Lectionary: 299
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.
“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.
Responsorial
PsalmPS 68:29-30, 33-35A,
35BC-36AB
R. (33a) Sing to
God, O kingdoms of the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Show forth, O God, your power,
the power, O God, with which you took our part;
For your temple in Jerusalem
let the kings bring you gifts.
R. Sing to God, O Kingdoms of the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
You kingdoms of the earth, sing to God,
chant praise to the Lord
who rides on the heights of the ancient heavens.
Behold, his voice resounds, the voice of power:
"Confess the power of God!"
R. Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Over Israel is his majesty;
his power is in the skies.
Awesome in his sanctuary is God, the God of Israel;
he gives power and strength to his people.
R. Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Show forth, O God, your power,
the power, O God, with which you took our part;
For your temple in Jerusalem
let the kings bring you gifts.
R. Sing to God, O Kingdoms of the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
You kingdoms of the earth, sing to God,
chant praise to the Lord
who rides on the heights of the ancient heavens.
Behold, his voice resounds, the voice of power:
"Confess the power of God!"
R. Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Over Israel is his majesty;
his power is in the skies.
Awesome in his sanctuary is God, the God of Israel;
he gives power and strength to his people.
R. Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
AlleluiaSEE JN 17:17B, 17A
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
Your word, O Lord, is truth;
consecrate us in the truth.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Your word, O Lord, is truth;
consecrate us in the truth.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelJN 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."
"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."
Meditation: "Consecrated in God's
truth"
Do you know why God created you - what purpose and
mission he has entrusted to you? Jesus' aim and mission was to glorify his
heavenly Father. All he said and did gave glory to his Father. On the eve of
his sacrifice on the cross and in the presence of his disciples, Jesus made his
high priestly prayer: "Holy Father, keep them in your name that they may
be one as we are one". Jesus prayed for the unity of his disciples and for
all who would believe in him. Jesus' prayer for his people is that we be united
with God the Father in his Son and through his Holy Spirit and be joined
together, in unity with all who are members of Christ's body.
A mission of love to make us one
What motivated Jesus to lay down his life on the cross as the atoning sacrifice for the sin of the world? It was love - love for his Father in heaven and love for each and everyone of us who are made in the image and likeness of God. Jesus was sent into the world by his Father for a purpose and that purpose was a mission of love to free us from slavery to sin, Satan, fear, death, and hopelessness. Jesus saw glory in the cross rather than shame. Obedience to his Father's will was his glory. Jesus kept his Father's word even when tempted to forgo the cross. Jesus did not rely on his own human resources and strength to accomplish his Father's will. He trusted in his Father to give him strength, courage, and perseverance in the face of opposition, trials, and temptation.
What motivated Jesus to lay down his life on the cross as the atoning sacrifice for the sin of the world? It was love - love for his Father in heaven and love for each and everyone of us who are made in the image and likeness of God. Jesus was sent into the world by his Father for a purpose and that purpose was a mission of love to free us from slavery to sin, Satan, fear, death, and hopelessness. Jesus saw glory in the cross rather than shame. Obedience to his Father's will was his glory. Jesus kept his Father's word even when tempted to forgo the cross. Jesus did not rely on his own human resources and strength to accomplish his Father's will. He trusted in his Father to give him strength, courage, and perseverance in the face of opposition, trials, and temptation.
God created us for a purpose and a mission
We also must take up our cross and follow the Lord Jesus wherever he may call us. He will give us the strength and power of the Holy Spirit to live as his disciples. John Henry Newman (1801-1890) wrote: "God has created me to do him some definite service; he has committed some work to me which he has not committed to another. I have my mission - I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for nothing. Therefore, I will trust him. Whatever, wherever I am. I cannot be thrown away." Do you trust in God and in his call and purpose for your life?
We also must take up our cross and follow the Lord Jesus wherever he may call us. He will give us the strength and power of the Holy Spirit to live as his disciples. John Henry Newman (1801-1890) wrote: "God has created me to do him some definite service; he has committed some work to me which he has not committed to another. I have my mission - I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for nothing. Therefore, I will trust him. Whatever, wherever I am. I cannot be thrown away." Do you trust in God and in his call and purpose for your life?
Consecrated in truth and holiness
Jesus prayed that his disciples would be sanctified and consecrated in God's truth and holiness. The scriptural word for consecration comes from the same Hebrew word which means holy or set apart for God. This word also means to be equipped with the qualities of mind and heart and character for such a task or service.
Jesus prayed that his disciples would be sanctified and consecrated in God's truth and holiness. The scriptural word for consecration comes from the same Hebrew word which means holy or set apart for God. This word also means to be equipped with the qualities of mind and heart and character for such a task or service.
Just as Jesus was called by the Father to serve in
holiness and truth, so we, too, are called and equipped for the task of serving
God in the world as his ambassadors. God's truth frees us from ignorance and
the deception of sin. It reveals to us God's goodness, love, and wisdom. And it
gives us a thirst for God's holiness. The Holy Spirit is the source and giver
of all holiness. As we allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives, he
transforms us by his purifying fire and changes us into the likeness of Christ.
Is your life consecrated to God?
"Lord Jesus, take my life and make it wholly
pleasing to you. Sanctify me in your truth and guide me by your Holy Spirit
that I may follow you faithfully wherever you lead."
Daily Quote from the early church fathers: The Bond of Christian Unity in Love, by
Cyril of Alexandria, 375-444 A.D.
"Christ wishes the disciples to be kept in a
state of unity by maintaining a like-mindedness and an identity of will, being
mingled together as it were in soul and spirit and in the law of peace and love
for one another. He wishes them to be bound together tightly with an
unbreakable bond of love, that they may advance to such a degree of unity that
their freely chosen association might even become an image of the natural unity
that is conceived to exist between the Father and the Son. That is to say, he
wishes them to enjoy a unity that is inseparable and indestructible, which may
not be enticed away into a dissimilarity of wills by anything at all that
exists in the world or any pursuit of pleasure, but rather reserves the power
of love in the unity of devotion and holiness. And this is what happened. For
as we read in the Acts of the Apostles, 'the company of those who believed were
of one heart and soul' (Acts 4:32), that is, in the unity of the Spirit. This
is also what Paul himself meant when he said 'one body and one Spirit'
(Ephesians 4:4). 'We who are many are one body in Christ for we all partake of
the one bread' (1 Corinthians 10:17; Romans 12:5), and we have all been
anointed in the one Spirit, the Spirit of Christ (1 Corinthians
12:13)." (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF
JOHN 11.9.18)
WEDNESDAY,
MAY 16, JOHN 17:11b-19
(Easter Weekday)
(Easter Weekday)
(Acts 20:28-38; Psalm 68)
KEY VERSE: "Consecrate them in truth. Your word is truth" (v.17).
TO KNOW: Poised between heaven and earth, Jesus interceded to the Father on behalf of his disciples whom he called 'friends.' As a good shepherd, Jesus protected the flock that the Father had given him (Jn 10:27-29). The only one lost was Judas, the one who gave himself over to the evil one. Jesus consecrated his faithful disciples, that is, he set them apart from the profane world in order to be holy vessels for God's use. Ironically, Jesus said that he did not pray for the world, and yet he came because God loved the world (Jn 3:16). But in John's gospel the 'world" stands for a human society without God. As the Father sent Jesus into the world to sanctify it, Jesus sent his disciples into the world in order to lead people back to God. The disciples would be a means of holiness for the entire world through their dedicated proclamation of divine truth.
TO LOVE: Am I a sign of holiness for others?
TO SERVE: Risen Lord, help me to be an instrument of your truth in the world.
Wednesday 16 May
2018
Acts 20:28-38. Psalm 67(68):29-30, 33-36. John 17:11-19.
Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth—Psalm 67(68):29-30, 33-36.
So that they may have my joy made complete in themselves.
As Teilhard de Chardin once said, ‘joy is an infallible sign of
the presence of God.’ When writer C.S. Lewis came to faith he was ‘surprised by
joy’.
Take the monk Thomas Merton’s experience in Louisville 1958 when
he felt ‘the immense joy of being.’ The joy was linked with a profound
experience of connection to the incarnate Christ and through him to all the
people he saw in the shopping district. He loved them all. Merton would spend
the next ten years expressing that love in an active engagement with issues of
racial justice, war and interfaith dialogue.
Saint Margaret of Cortona
Saint of the Day for May 16
(1247 – February 22, 1297)
Saint Margaret of Cortona’s Story
Margaret was born of farming parents in Laviano, Tuscany. Her
mother died when Margaret was seven; life with her stepmother was so difficult
that Margaret moved out. For nine years she lived with Arsenio, though they
were not married, and she bore him a son. In those years, she had doubts about
her situation. Somewhat like Saint
Augustine, she prayed for purity—but not just yet.
One day she was waiting for Arsenio and was instead met by his
dog. The animal led Margaret into the forest where she found Arsenio murdered.
This crime shocked Margaret into a life of penance. She and her son returned to
Laviano, where she was not well received by her stepmother. They then went to
Cortona, where her son eventually became a friar.
In 1277, three years after her conversion, Margaret became a
Franciscan tertiary. Under the direction of her confessor, who sometimes had to
order her to moderate her self-denial, she pursued a life of prayer and penance
at Cortona. There she established a hospital and founded a congregation of
tertiary sisters. The poor and humble Margaret was, like Francis, devoted to
the Eucharist and to the passion of Jesus. These devotions fueled her great
charity and drew sinners to her for advice and inspiration. She was canonized
in 1728.
Reflection
Seeking forgiveness is sometimes difficult work. It is made
easier by meeting people who, without trivializing our sins, assure us that God
rejoices over our repentance. Being forgiven lifts a weight and prompts us to
acts of charity.
LECTIO DIVINA: JOHN 17:11B-19
Lectio Divina:
Wednesday, May 16, 2018
1) OPENING PRAYER
Lord our God,
Your Son Jesus gave himself totally
to those He loved - that is, to all.
Give us a share of His unselfish love
that we too may learn from experience
that there is more joy in giving ourselves
than in receiving honors or favors.
May the Spirit make us also so much one
that we graciously share with one another
our God-given riches and gifts as people.
We ask You this through Christ our Lord.
Your Son Jesus gave himself totally
to those He loved - that is, to all.
Give us a share of His unselfish love
that we too may learn from experience
that there is more joy in giving ourselves
than in receiving honors or favors.
May the Spirit make us also so much one
that we graciously share with one another
our God-given riches and gifts as people.
We ask You this through Christ our Lord.
2) GOSPEL READING - 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."
3) REFLECTION
• We are now in the Novena of Pentecost,
waiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit. Jesus says that the gift of the Holy
Spirit is given only to those who ask for it in prayer (Lk 11:13). In the
Cenacle, for nine days, from the Ascension to Pentecost, the Apostles
persevered in prayer together with Mary, the Mother of Jesus (Acts 1:14), and
they obtained the abundance of the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4). Today’s
Gospel continues to place before us the Priestly Prayer of Jesus. It is a very
opportune text to prepare ourselves during these days for the coming of the
Holy Spirit in our life.
• John 17:11b-12: Keep them in Your
name! Jesus channels His concern into prayer: “Keep those You have given Me
true to Your name, so that they may be one like Us!” Everything which Jesus
does in His life, He does in the Name of God. Jesus is the manifestation of the
Name of God. The Name of God is Yahweh, JHWH. In the time of Jesus, this name
was pronounced saying, “Adonai,” “Kyrios,” “Lord.” In the
discourse of Pentecost, Peter says that Jesus, because of His Resurrection, was
constituted Lord: “For this reason the whole House of Israel can be certain
that the Lord and Christ whom God has made is this Jesus whom you crucified.”
(Acts 2:36). And Paul says that this has been done so that “every tongue should
acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord to the glory of God, the Father” (Phil 2:11).
It is the Name which is above all other names” (Phil 2:9). JHWH or Yahweh, the
Name of God, took on a concrete face in Jesus of Nazareth! Unity has to form
around this name: keep those you have given Me true to Your name so that they
may be one like We are. Jesus wants the unity of the communities in such a way
that they can resist the world which hates them and persecutes them. The people
united around the name of Jesus will never be conquered!
• John 17:13-16: That they may share My
joy to the full. Jesus is bidding farewell. In a short time He will go away.
The disciples continue in the world. They will be persecuted and be afflicted.
Because of this, they are sad. Jesus prays that their joy may be full. They want
to continue to be in the world without being of, or belonging to, the world.
This means to live in the system of the Empire, whether liberal or Roman,
without allowing themselves to be contaminated. Like Jesus, and with Jesus,
they should live in the opposite direction of the world.
• John 17:17-19: As You sent Me into the
world, I have sent them into the world. Jesus asks that they be consecrated in
truth. That is, that they may be capable of dedicating their whole life to
giving witness of their convictions concerning Jesus and God the Father. Jesus
sanctified Himself in the measure in which, during His life, He revealed the
Father. He asks that the disciples enter into the same process of
sanctification. Their mission is the same as Jesus’ mission. They sanctify
themselves in the measure in which, living in love, they reveal Jesus and the
Father. To sanctify oneself means to become human like Jesus. Pope Leo the
Great said, “Jesus was so human, but so human, as only God can be human.” For
this reason we should live in opposition to the world, because the system of
the world dehumanizes human life and renders it contrary to the intentions of
the Creator.
4) FOR PERSONAL
CONSIDERATION:
• Jesus lived in the world, but was not
of the world. He lived contrary to the system, and because of this, He was
persecuted and was condemned to death. Do I live contrary to today’s
system, or do I adapt my faith to the system?
What words and actions do I show that I
belong to the world or don’t belong to the world? Am I showing a little of
both?
• Preparation for Pentecost. To invoke
the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit who gave courage to Jesus. In this
Novena of preparation for Pentecost, it is good to dedicate some time to asking
for the gift of the Spirit of Jesus.
5) CONCLUDING PRAYER
I bless Yahweh who is my counselor,
even at night my heart instructs me.
I keep Yahweh before me always,
for with Him at my right hand, nothing can shake me.
(Ps 16:7-8)
even at night my heart instructs me.
I keep Yahweh before me always,
for with Him at my right hand, nothing can shake me.
(Ps 16:7-8)
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