A JESUIT'S BLOG
Tuesday, 19 May 2026
Wednesday, May 20, 2026 - How do I measure my own success? Is my striving to “have more” or to “be more”?
To read the texts click on the texts: Acts 20:28-38; Jn 17:11-19
The
prayer of Jesus continues with a prayer for the disciples. In the first verse
today, Jesus prays for God’s protection for the disciples and the oneness that
they must share. This unity must be like the unity that the Son, Jesus, shares
with God, his Father. While Jesus was on earth, he was able to instruct his
disciples on this unity and show it in his own words and actions. Now that he is going to the Father, he
entrusts this teaching to God. The “world”, with its own set of values and way
of proceeding, will try to draw the disciples away from the teaching of Jesus,
much like it drew Judas Iscariot. Yet, he was the one who decided that he
wanted to break away from the community and align with the “world” and so, made
his choice. The disciples need to be given the same strength that Jesus had and
be sanctified in the truth.
It
is so easy to be sucked in by all that the “world” has to offer. The lure of
money, riches, and the desire to have more, are tempting and inviting. Success
is often measured by how much a person has rather than by how much he/she is.
This results in a striving to possess more and more even, if at times, it is at
the cost of someone else having less than is their due. The prayer of Jesus for
his disciples must be read today in this context and we need to constantly ask
ourselves if, as his disciples, the prayer that he made is having its desired
effect on us.
Monday, 18 May 2026
Tuesday, May 19, 2026 - Does my prayer show in action? How?
To read the texts click on the texts: Acts 20:17-27; Jn 17:1-11
Chapter
17, from which we will read today, tomorrow, and the day after, is titled “The
High Priestly Prayer” of Jesus. However, this may also be seen as a farewell
hymn of praise to God. This farewell is not simply the death of Jesus, but is
the “departure” from this world, a return to the Father, after completing the work
entrusted to him. It is thus a prayer of thanksgiving and confidence. Since is
the last prayer before the Passion Narrative, which begins in Chapter 18, it
must also be interpreted with this in mind. The intimacy that Jesus shares with
the Father shines through every sentence of the prayer. Jesus speaks in this
prayer directly to God.
The
prayer is divided into three parts. In the first (17:1-5), though it seems that
he is praying for himself, what Jesus is really doing is giving thanks to the
Father for his graciousness and love. In the second part (17:6-19), Jesus prays
for his disciples and, in the final part of the prayer (17:20-26), Jesus prays
for those who will believe because of the disciples preaching, i.e. future
generations of disciples.
The
prayer begins with Jesus adopting a formal posture of prayer, looking up to
heaven, and addressing God as “Father”. On the one hand, this shows that Jesus
now distances himself from his disciples and, on the other, indicates the
intimate relationship that Jesus shares with God. The announcement of the
“hour” at the beginning of the prayer points to the fact that the prayer will
be directed to God, keeping this in mind. It is the “hour” of glorification
because during it, Jesus will obey God completely, and in that obedience, God
will be revealed and glorified. Jesus, as Son, has revealed God’s gift of
eternal life to all who were willing to receive it. Jesus has completed this
work on earth and now, he has to return to the Father in order to complete the work
of glorification.
The
work of glorification included making the name of God known to all. Jesus has
revealed the Father as Father and God as a God of unconditional and bountiful
love. The disciples have been able to see God revealed in Jesus and thus, have
kept God’s revealed word. Since Jesus is not going to be in the world in the
same way in which he was with the disciples, he prays for their protection.
This protection is to be manifested in the oneness that the disciples will
share to show those who do not yet believe, that Jesus has indeed come from God
and is with God.
Prayer
is not primarily words, but an attitude. This is what Jesus displays in his
prayer. The manner in which one addresses God displays the relationship that
one shares with him. “Father” was the most intimate term for Jesus to use and
it shows the oneness that he felt with God. Each of us has to find our own
intimate term with which to address God. It is important to realize that, after
Jesus, God can never be looked at with fear or trepidation, but only with
confidence, courage, and hope.
Prayer
does not begin with “me” but with God and his glorification. However, the
glorification of God is complete when love abounds, because where love is,
there God is. The effect of our prayer has to be seen in tangible love,
expressed in deeds, like it was in the life of Jesus.
Sunday, 17 May 2026
Monday, May 18, 2026 - When faced with a seemingly insurmountable problem today will you believe that you, like Jesus, will overcome?
To read the texts click on the texts: Acts 19:1-8; Jn 16:19-23
Though
the disciples think that they have understood everything that Jesus has said,
and that it is plain to them, they actually misunderstand. While Jesus has used
many figures of speech to make his points, the disciples mistakenly think that
he has used only one. They also do not realize that Jesus had spoken of a
future time when he would speak plainly and when things would be clear, and
erroneously think of that time as the present. Where Jesus was appealing to the
heart, the disciples used their minds. Their knowledge is an intellectual
knowledge and thus, focuses only on the present and not on the future. They
forget that the whole story of Jesus can only be completed with the departure
to the Father. This is why Jesus has to reorient them and remind them again of
the “hour”. The “hour” here is the hour of death which will result in the
scattering of the disciples. They will all abandon him at his death. Yet, Jesus
will not be alone because he knows that the Father will be with him, even if no
one else is. Thus, even when faced with the most difficult situation, namely
death, Jesus can have peace and this is the peace that he will gift to the
disciples. This peace will enable the disciples to stand up to all the trials
and tribulations they will encounter.
The
last words of Jesus here are words of confidence and hope: “But take courage; I
have conquered the world.” Even as he goes to his death, Jesus knows that
victory will be his. He will overcome, through his cross, all the negative
powers that try to prevent his love from reaching the ends of the earth.
It
takes courage to believe when we are faced with seemingly insurmountable
obstacles and difficulties of life. It is at times like these that our faith is
tested and tried. It is at times like these when we have to ask ourselves
whether we believe that God is still working for our good. To have courage in
the face of adversity, to believe in the face of trials, and to trust and have
faith when everything seems to be going wrong, is to have the confidence in the
Father that Jesus had. This attitude can be ours if we open ourselves to God’s
abundant grace and realize the impermanence of all that assails us. It is to
know that, like Jesus, we too will overcome the “world”. The movement from
present sorrow, pain and trial, to future joy, peace and hope, is possible and
even guaranteed because Jesus has overcome.
Saturday, 16 May 2026
Sunday, May 17, 2026 - The Ascension of the Lord - Will you proclaim the WORD in ACTION?
To read the texts click on the texts: Acts1:1-11; Eph 1:17-23; Mt 28: 16-20
Though
the First and Second readings and the Responsorial Psalm are common for all
three years A, B and C, the Gospel readings differ on Ascension Sunday. In year
A the Church reads from Matthew, in year B from the longer and canonical ending
of Mark (Mk 16:15-20) and in year C from the last chapter and verses of Luke
(Lk 24:46-53). While Mark and Luke clearly mention the detail of Jesus
ascending into heaven, Matthew does not. Yet, the scene in Matthew conveys a
depth of meaning that the other Synoptic Gospels find difficult to match.
Matthew’s
text is made up of two parts. The first of these is the encounter of the
disciples with the Risen Lord on the mountain in Galilee and the second is the
commission which the Risen Lord gives to his disciples. The encounter with the
disciples is described as a matter of fact, as an event which takes place
ordinarily. The response of the disciples to the appearance of Jesus is worship
mixed with doubt. This is to indicate that the Risen Jesus comes to a Church
that while it worships also wavers, while it believes also hesitates, while it
has faith also doubts. This is the Church to which the commission is given and
by sacrificing sensationalism, the text focuses on the words of the Risen
Jesus. The universalizing “All” before the revelation which Jesus makes about
his authority, before the commission that he gives the disciples, and before
assuring them of his abiding presence, makes the whole scene universal in
scope. The local Mission of Jesus has become now universal.
The
first reading from the Acts of the Apostles already sets the tone for the
Universal Mission which the disciples are given. Here they are commissioned to
be witnesses not only in Jerusalem but to the ends of the earth. However, even
as they are commissioned they are cautioned about two things. The first is
patience. They must wait for the gift of the Spirit with openness and
receptivity. The second is that it not for them to know too many details about
time, place and the like. Their job is only to be witnesses. To use the words
of St. Francis of Assisi, they are called to “Proclaim the Gospel at all times.
When necessary, use words.” They were meant to be those who could give evidence
for what they have seen and heard. They could not be witnesses unless they had
met the Risen Christ and unless their lives have been transformed by him. Their
testimony was about him, not just about what happened long ago and far away.
They were to give evidence about what they themselves have heard, seen,
experience
The
evidence that they were to give and the message that they were to proclaim, was
good news. The message was hope and light and love. It was a message which
Jesus himself had taught them and this is what they were to teach. This was why
even before Jesus sent them out, he made explicit that the authority was his
and not theirs. Their job was not to usurp this authority, but simply to
welcome all peoples to make the same discovery that they had made in their
faith journey, the discovery of the God of light and of goodness, of mercy and
of compassion, of justice and of reconciliation -- and not impose their own
cultural values or their own cultural traditions in the process. It was
allowing others to make that discovery freely and joyfully. Authority has been
given to Christ.
This
was remembered by Christians in the first century as is evident in the
community living which resulted as a result of the witness to the words and
deeds of Jesus. They also realized that the Church was but the body of the
Risen Christ and so had to continue to be an extension of him who was raised.
The
missionary movement of the Church stemming from the Mission command of Jesus
continued and does so even today. There are moments in the Church’s history in
which we see truly gracious, noble, altruistic and selfless acts of dedication
and service. A lot of good has been done in every continent and corner of the
earth because the Church continued to take seriously the command of Jesus.
However,
it is also true that sometimes we as Church seemed to have forgotten the real
message and concentrated on getting converts to the faith at any cost. This has
left in some places a memory of hurt, pain, loss and even suffering. We have
sometimes missed the point. The mistake that we sometimes make is to forget
that the authority rests with Jesus and not with us. Our role continues to be
only that of proclaimers who will “disciple” peoples everywhere by teaching
them through our lives what Jesus has commanded us and done in us.
Friday, 15 May 2026
Saturday, May 16, 2026 - Do you remember to add at the end of your prayer the words “not my, but your will be done”?
To read the texts click on the texts: Acts 18:23-28; Jn 16:23-28
The
death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus will be the event that will enable
the disciples to pray, not only in Jesus’ name, but like he prayed. Through
this event, the disciples will enter into a new relationship with Jesus and
with God through him. This relationship will be a relationship of love. As God
showed his love for the world in sending Jesus, and Jesus showed his love for
the world by accepting the cross, so the disciples have shown love for Jesus
and God by accepting and believing that Jesus has come from God.
In
the last verse of today’s text the entire mission of Jesus is summarized. Jesus
has been sent by God and has come from God. After completing the mission
entrusted to him, he is returning to where he has come from: God. The story of
Jesus, which began with his coming from the Father ends, but also continues
with his ascending to the Father.
Prayer
in Jesus’ name and praying like Jesus means to believe, before we receive
something, that it will be given to us. It is a confidence that God is on our
side. We may not always be able to see at first glance how what we receive is
for our good, much like the cross that Jesus carried. However, it means that we
continue to trust and believe that all will be well because God is always in
control of any and every situation.