Reflection for Wednesday, Seventh Week of Easter

TODAY'S WORD

By


Fr. Aloysius Santiago sdb
Rector and Parish Priest
Don Bosco Shrine
Lingarajapuram, Bangalore

John: 17:11 "And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, protect them in Your Name that you have given Me, so that they may be one, as we are one."


FIRST READING REFLECTION

St. Paul began the address to the elders of the church of Ephesus with these opening words: Be on your guard for yourselves.

He would go on to say that even from their own ranks, there will be men coming forward to lead others astray and induce the disciples to follow them.

The evil one is prowling round looking for someone to be tricked into being that traitor, thief and enemy.


GOSPEL REFLECTION

In this morning’s gospel reading Jesus prays for his disciples on the night before he died.

This prayer really transcends that particular moment in time.

It is also the prayer of the risen Lord for his disciples today, for all of us gathered here this morning.

What is Jesus’ prayer on our behalf? In the words of the gospel reading, he prays that we may be true to God’s name and that God would protect us from the evil one.

This prayer of Jesus for us reflects one of the petitions in the prayer that Jesus asked us to pray for ourselves, the prayer that has become known as the Lord’s Prayer.

In that prayer we pray, ‘Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil’.

This must be a prayer that is very close to the heart of Jesus if he prays it for us and asks us to pray it for ourselves, the prayer that we be delivered from, protected from, the evil one, the prayer that we remain true or faithful to God’s name, to who God is and what God desires for us.

Jesus prays this prayer in the knowledge that our faithfulness will be put to the test by what the gospel reading calls the ‘world’.

The gospel reading this morning assures us that in such testing times the Lord is praying for us, and his prayer combined with our own prayer will ultimately keep us faithful to him and to his Father.


RESOLUTION

Let us resolve and pray that the Lord will deliver us from evil and not to fall into the trap of the devil.

May we always follow Jesus our Good Shepherd and listen to His voice so that we won't go astray.


GOOD MORNING

LET'S PRAY FOR STAN SWAMY THAT HIS HEALTH MAY BE RESTORED AND THAT HE IS GIVEN BAIL

HAVE A FRUITFUL DAY

GOD BLESS YOU ALL