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. Paul warns against the threat to the Christian life posed by wrong teachings from outsiders and within the community. He exhorts the elders (overseers or leaders) to keep watch over such insurgency. However, Paul assures the Christians that he has commended them to God and sustained them with God's word to withstand false teachings.
The gospel also illustrates 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 realizes that his followers stand out in the world as their life singles them out from those who reject him and his teachings. Therefore, Jesus entrusts them to the Father to strengthen them in the truth they have learned from him so that they could reach the destination willed by Him.
Dear friends, the Christian life is unique and different as long as the teachings of Jesus are kept intact and practiced faithfully. Jesus emphasizes this in the gospel. Jesus further underlines that the Word he has taught contains every truth that consecrates 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 propose wrong teachings. Therefore, every faithful is exhorted to brace themselves against such insurgency by remaining faithful to 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 teachings that deviate us from being followers of Jesus, such as individualism, utilitarianism, and other wrong values. Let's anchor ourselves firmly in the teachings of Jesus and try to remain faithful to him.
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