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 Faithful
May the Lord give you His peace!
We read in today’s Gospel the last farewell discourse of the Lord Jesus in the Johannine
narrative. It is interesting to note that the Lord Jesus prayed for His present and would-be
disciples before ascending into heaven. By this good example, He bequeathed to all His disciples
a wonderful legacy of prayer for their present and future survival in the world. Let us now fix our
gaze 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 we
live, but it is rather used to designate the human society that seeks to organise itself without
acknowledging the Lord Jesus Christ; it stands for any ideology that seeks to oppose or
contradict the message of the Lord Jesus Christ (cf. Jn. 17:14-16; Eph. 6:10-17). We live in the
world full of evil; powers that seek to oppress and suppress the freedom with which God created
humankind; men and women who hate the truth and always scheme to eliminate the bearers of
the truth.
The Lord Jesus was crucified essentially because the Jewish leaders could not live in the same
world with the truth (cf. Jn. 14:6); the truth was bitter and inimical to their evil activities. The
Lord Jesus, therefore, knew very well the world in which the disciples were living and were
commissioned to minister. He was aware that the disciples would go through untold hardships
and hatred in their hands because their values and way of life are different from their own. In
spite of all the dangers in the world, the Lord still commissioned His disciples in love to redeem
it 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. He
knew that the cross would inevitably be heavy for them; yet, the strength of the Father would be
their 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 us
is not to run away from the world full of corruption and selfishness but rather to overcome it by
His strength. We do not have to be afraid of what we see; because the victory of the Lord over
the world is our heritage. That is why a prayerless Christian, spiritually endangers his/her own
life and ministry. This is why the Lord Jesus never ceased praying daily in His ministry; and
prayer 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 can
last.” (NJB, Mt. 12:25). It is an undeniable fact that rancour and unnecessary competition distract
people from their main goal. Thus, the strength of the Church in discharging his or her
evangelical mandate is unity; loving one another as the Lord Jesus loved us; living the love that
eternally 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 all
human endeavours. And, indeed, where the centre is not holding together in unity, things will
naturally 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 listen
to God in our closet is oftentimes uncomfortable to most of us. This is because the word of God
does not only praise us for the good we do in our ministry, but above all, challenges us to take up
some 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 how
daunting 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 initial
response may be to fidget; just be still in prayer, and you will realise that new grace is attached to
the package. Doing the will of God with joy offers us new strength to embark on longer and
more 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 the
world. May you, therefore, find joy in the word of God today to supplant the constant fear and
sorrow 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 for
God’s purpose (cf. Jer. 1:5; Ex. 28:41). Thus, we have been chosen by the Lord not only to talk
about the truth but to live the truth. It is a prayer meant for us to smell in the world like the Good
Shepherd. Can you imagine? We have been set apart for nothing but the truth! The Lord Jesus by
this prayer has also empowered us for the divine commission. The strength of every Christian
lies in living and divulging the truth, and this comes about through a radical obedience to the
word of God.
In a nutshell, today’s Gospel could be entitled: the prayer of the Lord for all His faithful. Its
content is our unassailable exhibit or evidence that God is love, and that He cares about our
needs. May the Lord give you His peace!