REFLECTIONS TODAY
Three times Jesus prays to the Father to protect the disciples in the Father’s name since all holiness comes from the Father. The disciples are consecrated, that is, set apart and dedicated to keeping the name of God holy. By remaining “consecrated in the truth,” the disciples come under the protection of Jesus and the Father himself. For even as the disciples exercise their ministry in the world with authority from Jesus, they have to contend with the Evil One. But they are assured of God’s protection. Jesus promises them his abiding presence and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the dynamic force that transforms the world. The same Holy Spirit is the binding love that unites the Father to the Son, and unites the disciples to Jesus. Jesus links his own consecration and mission to that of the disciples. As long as they are committed to keeping the truth—and not peddlers of falsehood, deceit, and lies—God’s own word of truth will preserve them.
Gospel • Jn 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.”
SOURCE: “365 Days with the Lord 2022,” ST. PAULS, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; Fax 632-895-7328; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.