💖 HOMILY - MAY 23 💖

First Reading - Acts 20:17-27 

Gospel - John 17:1-11

Today’s Gospel passage is taken from the “High Priestly Prayer” Jesus offered to the Father for himself, the apostles and all future believers at the end of his long Last Supper discourse. It is called the High Priestly Prayer because it is as the High Priest of the New Covenant that Jesus offers to God, his Father, the imminent sacrifice of his passion and death, his apostles and their mission, and all future believers.

In the first part of the prayer, Jesus asks for the glorification of his human nature and the acceptance of his sacrifice on the cross by his Father. Jesus considered his crucifixion as his glorification — just as the martyrs would later do. The cross was the glory of Jesus because it was the completion of his double work of saving mankind and of demonstrating to us how much God loves us. Further, it was his death on the cross that led to his Resurrection in glory. Jesus glorified God 1) by accepting death on the cross in perfect obedience to God, to complete His eternal plan of salvation; 2) by revealing God to men as a loving, forgiving and saving Father; and 3) by giving believers Eternal Life in making them his disciples and teaching them to obey his new commandment of love.

According to the New Testament, Eternal Life is: “to know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ Whom You have sent” (John 17:3). To “know” God in the Gospel sense is to have a deep, personal experience of God Who is working in one’s life. It involves a close, intimate relationship which matures eventually into mutual love and trust. Christian Faith is essentially a “believing in”- a total surrender. It is the way we come to “know” Christ closely, to experience Him intimately, and to love Him personally.

Dear friends let us center our Christian life on prayer and the glorification of God. Prayer means getting into contact with God — listening to Him and talking to Him. If we are convinced of the presence of God within us, we can talk to Him even while we are driving, waiting in a queue, or doing routine work in the kitchen or yard. Our talk with God can include adoration, praise, thanksgiving, pleas for forgiveness for ourselves and for those who injure us and/or others, and prayer for the needs of others and of ourselves. A few minutes spent in reading the Bible is the best way of listening to God. 4) We glorify God by obeying His commandments, especially the commandment of love given by Jesus.