Consecrate them in the truth
REFLECTIONS TODAY
When a person departs, as when a migrant worker leaves for abroad, he or she gives instructions to those he or she leaves behind, like the children who are entrusted to their guardians. At his own departure to go to the Father, Jesus gives a lengthy instruction to his disciples, and in his “priestly prayer” he entrusts them to the Father. He prays, “Consecrate them in the truth” (v 17).
Consecration or sanctification (Greek hagiazō) has the sense of being set apart for sacred work or duty, like Aaron for priesthood (Ex 28:41) or Jeremiah for prophecy (Jer 1:5). In the New Testament, John the Baptist is “set apart” to be the forerunner of the Messiah and Paul to be an apostle to the Gentiles (Gal 1:15-16). Jesus asks his Father to “consecrate” his disciples who will continue his mission. They are set apart, publicly marked out for the mission to proclaim and give witness to Jesus in the world. “In the truth” refers to the word of God, the word of the Father himself: “Your word is truth” (v 17). This means that the divine word will preserve them from contamination by the standards of the world to which they are sent.
Pope Francis warns of “spiritual worldliness”: Christians must be on guard against “the danger of complacency, comfort, worldliness in our lifestyles and in our hearts, of making our well-being the most important thing in our lives” (Homily, 29 September 2013)
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.”
Source: “366 Days with the Lord 2024,” St. Paul’s, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; E-mail: publishing@stpauls.ph; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.