Gospel JN 17:11B-19
Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed, saying:
“Holy Father, keep them in your name
that you have given me,
so that they may be one just as we are one.
When I was with them I protected them in your name that you gave me, and I guarded them, and none of them was lost
except the son of destruction, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
But now I am coming to you.
I speak this in the world so that they may share my joy completely. I gave them your word, and the world hated them,
because they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the Evil One.
They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth.
As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world.
And I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth.”
Reflection:
Knowing that he will soon be leaving his followers to return to his Father in Heaven, Jesus prays that his disciples…“may be one just as we are one.”
He does not ask the Father to keep them from trouble, persecution, or even death. Instead, he prays that they will “be one” with God.
My tendency often is to pray for the resolution of specific problems that my family and friends are experiencing. But today’s gospel reminds me that it is more important to pray that the trials of life do not discourage those I love from turning to and relying on God.
My thirty-one year old grandson has had an ongoing struggle with the disease of alcoholism. Over the years, our family has responded to his needs by helping him in various ways. Recently, for the third time in ten years, he entered a Sober House. In a conversation with the manager, it became apparent that my grandson is not serious about his recovery.
A decision had to be made whether my grandson stay at the rehab or be told he must leave the program to make room for someone who is serious about getting sober.
As his grandfather and someone who has been a member of Alcoholic Anonymous for thirty years, I was asked for my opinion. It’s a tough call whether to keep him safe in rehab or put him out on the street where anything may happen.
After praying on the matter, I advised the manager at the Sober House to “cut him loose.”
If the Prodigal Son had found food and comfort at the pig pen, it’s doubtful he would have reached the state of desperation that resulted in his heading home to his father.
I pray that in facing the trials of life, my grandson will not be hurt or cause harm to anyone else. But, mostly, as Jesus prayed for his disciples in today’s gospel, I pray that my grandson will “be one with God” and like the Prodigal Son, he will seek God in his desperation.
“And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.” Luke 15:20