That they may be one like us

 Seventh Sunday of Easter Year B - 16th May 2021

Gospel John 17: 11–19

Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said:

‘Holy Father, keep those you have given me true to your name, so that they may be one like us. While I was with them, I kept those you had given me true to your name. I have watched over them and not one is lost except the one who chose to be lost, and this was to fulfil the scriptures.

But now I am coming to you and while still in the world I say these things to share my joy with them to the full.

I passed your word on to them, and the world hated them, because they belong to the world no more than I belong to the world.

I am not asking you to remove them from the world, but to protect 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, I have sent them into the world, and for their sake

I consecrate myself so that they too may be consecrated in truth.’

"Protect them..."

Gospel Reflection from St Beuno's Outreach

I settle myself in the place where I will pray, perhaps lighting a candle to remind me of the Lord’s presence here with me. As I take a couple of deeper breaths, I breathe in the warmth of his welcome and let God take from me any burden I am carrying today.

I turn my attention to the text. Aware that the words are Jesus’s own prayer to his Father, I may like to move closer to Jesus in my imagination ...

so I sit beside him, and I listen.

Are there words or phrases that I want him to repeat for me?

Perhaps there are parts of the text I don’t really understand, and I ask him to explain them to me.

What do I feel as I listen to what Jesus asks of the Father? ... for the disciples he is soon to leave behind, and for me, seeking to find my way as his disciple in the troubled and perplexing world of today?

As I ponder, I may want to bring to mind where and what those gifts are in my own life.

As I think back over the weeks since we celebrated the Lord’s Resurrection, perhaps I can see afresh the signs of his life in me.

Giving thanks and praise for these, I may find myself drawn back to Jesus beside me. In my imagination, I kneel next to him as I make my own offering to go out into the world sharing my joy, trusting in his protec on and his truth.

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