Seventh Sunday of Easter Readings: Acts 1:15-17,20a,20c-26;Ps. 102:1-2,11-12,19-20; 1Jn 4:11-16; Jn. 17:11b-19

Prayer for the FaithfulMay the Lord give you His peace!We read in today's Gospel the last farewell discourse of the Lord Jesus in the Johanninenarrative. It is interesting to note that the Lord Jesus prayed for His present and would-bedisciples before ascending into heaven. By this good example, He bequeathed to all His disciplesa wonderful legacy of prayer for their present and future survival in the world. Let us now fix ourgaze on some of the petitions the Lord made in His prayer for the faithful.First, the statement: “And now I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world” (cf. Jn.17:11). In the Gospel of John, the usage of the term “world” is not just the cosmos in which welive, but it is rather used to designate the human society that seeks to organise itself withoutacknowledging the Lord Jesus Christ; it stands for any ideology that seeks to oppose orcontradict the message of the Lord Jesus Christ (cf. Jn. 17:14-16; Eph. 6:10-17). We live in theworld full of evil; powers that seek to oppress and suppress the freedom with which God createdhumankind; men and women who hate the truth and always scheme to eliminate the bearers ofthe truth.The Lord Jesus was crucified essentially because the Jewish leaders could not live in the sameworld with the truth (cf. Jn. 14:6); the truth was bitter and inimical to their evil activities. TheLord Jesus, therefore, knew very well the world in which the disciples were living and werecommissioned to minister. He was aware that the disciples would go through untold hardshipsand hatred in their hands because their values and way of life are different from their own. Inspite of all the dangers in the world, the Lord still commissioned His disciples in love to redeemit by exposing the evil activities, for God so loved the world that He cannot abandoned it (cf. Jn.3:16). However, as the Good Shepherd, He prayed for the protection of His Father for them. Heknew that the cross would inevitably be heavy for them; yet, the strength of the Father would betheir solace (cf. Jn. 17:12).Beloved, this teaches us that we cannot dissociate ourselves from the world; from our families;from our cultures, no matter the conspicuous challenges therein. The testament of the Lord for usis not to run away from the world full of corruption and selfishness but rather to overcome it byHis strength. We do not have to be afraid of what we see; because the victory of the Lord overthe world is our heritage. That is why a prayerless Christian, spiritually endangers his/her ownlife and ministry. This is why the Lord Jesus never ceased praying daily in His ministry; andprayer was the secret behind His victory over the evil machinations of His time.The second point for our reflection is the prayer for unity among His disciples (cf. Jn. 17:11).This petition is founded on what the Lord Jesus once told the Jewish leaders: “Every kingdom divided against itself is heading for ruin, and no town, no household divided against itself canlast.” (NJB, Mt. 12:25). It is an undeniable fact that rancour and unnecessary competition distractpeople from their main goal. Thus, the strength of the Church in discharging his or herevangelical mandate is unity; loving one another as the Lord Jesus loved us; living the love thateternally exist between the Father and the Son; clinging firmly together unto the true vine (Jn.15) is the surest way to overcome the world. The strength and victory in unity is applicable in allhuman endeavours. And, indeed, where the centre is not holding together in unity, things willnaturally fall apart!The Lord further prayed that His disciples may share His joy completely (cf. Jn. 17:13).Listening to the word of God and keeping it with all our hearts bring joy. Creating space to listento God in our closet is oftentimes uncomfortable to most of us. This is because the word of Goddoes not only praise us for the good we do in our ministry, but above all, challenges us to take upsome new task, which may lead us to fear and even question the veracity of the message.Nevertheless, if we persevere in executing that new direction from the Lord, no matter howdaunting it may be, the end result is the feeling of inner peace, satisfaction and fullness of joy.Beloved, remember that whenever the Lord gives you a new direction in life, though your initialresponse may be to fidget; just be still in prayer, and you will realise that new grace is attached tothe package. Doing the will of God with joy offers us new strength to embark on longer andmore difficult journeys in life. In fact, the joy of the Lord remains our strength in the maze of life(cf. Neh. 8:10). Our vocation is to perpetually share in the joy of the Lord in overcoming theworld. May you, therefore, find joy in the word of God today to supplant the constant fear andsorrow in your heart!In addition, the Lord Jesus prayed that the Father consecrates His disciples in the truth (cf. Jn.17:17, 19). To consecrate someone or something is to set that person or thing apart solely forGod's purpose (cf. Jer. 1:5; Ex. 28:41). Thus, we have been chosen by the Lord not only to talkabout the truth but to live the truth. It is a prayer meant for us to smell in the world like the GoodShepherd. Can you imagine? We have been set apart for nothing but the truth! The Lord Jesus bythis prayer has also empowered us for the divine commission. The strength of every Christianlies in living and divulging the truth, and this comes about through a radical obedience to theword of God.In a nutshell, today's Gospel could be entitled: the prayer of the Lord for all His faithful. Itscontent is our unassailable exhibit or evidence that God is love, and that He cares about ourneeds. May the Lord give you His peace!

Seventh Sunday of Easter Readings: Acts 1:15-17,20a,20c-26;Ps. 102:1-2,11-12,19-20; 1Jn 4:11-16; Jn. 17:11b-19

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