First Reading - Acts 20:28-38
Gospel - John 17:11-19
The first reading is a parting exhortation by Paul to the Christians in Ephesus. The exhortation of Paul contains warnings against the threat to the Christian life in the proposal of wrong teachings by the outsiders and also from within. Therefore, Paul exhorts the elders (overseers or leaders) to keep watch over such insurgency arising from within and without. However, Paul assures the Christians that he has commended them to God and sustained them with God's word to withstand the wrong teachers of faith.
The gospel also paints the theme of commendation of the followers to the Father by Jesus. Jesus prays to the Father for his followers who are in the world but have chosen the way of truth in him by accepting him and his teachings. Jesus realises that the followers of him stand out in the world as their life singles them out from those who are of the world or those who reject him and his teachings. Therefore, Jesus entrusts them to the Father to strengthen them in the truth they have learnt from him so that they could reach the destination willed by Him.
Dear friends, the Christian life is unique and different insofar as the teachings of Jesus are kept intact and practised faithfully. Jesus emphasizes this in the gospel. Jesus further underlines that the Word he has taught contains every truth that consecrates (set them apart for God and His purpose) his followers to God and separates them from the world. However, the gospel and the first reading also mention that walking the path of the gospel is filled with challenges posed by those who reject Jesus or by those who propose wrong teachings. Therefore, every faithful is exhorted to brace themselves against such insurgency by remaining faithful to the teachings of Jesus by revisiting the teachings of Jesus enshrined in the Scriptures and taught by the Church and thereby draw grace from them to remain in truth. Jesus also mentions that deviation from the truth is a choice of every individual like Judas who betrayed and got lost in the world by his choice. Hence, our choices are made correctly if they are guided by the truth of the Word. Let's allow the teachings of Jesus to guide and direct our lives.
The readings also assure us that our Christian life is a journey and this journey is accompanied by God's strength as Jesus has prayed for us and many saints also pray for us. There are many wrong teachers and wrong teachings and values that deviate us from being followers of Jesus, like; individualism, utilitarianism, and other wrong values and teachings. Let's anchor ourselves firmly in the teachings of Jesus and try to remain faithful to him.
.jpeg)
0 Comments