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.
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