Word to the Wise
Tuesday, June 4, 2019 - 7th Week of Easter - Tues
[Acts 20:17-27 and John 17:1-11a]"I revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word....I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me, because they are yours, and everything of mine is yours and everything of yours is mine, and I have been glorified in them. And now I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, while I am coming to you." [John]
JUNE 4 ST. PETER OF VERONA, O.P. [first Dominican martyr]
We now enter the last part of the Last Supper discourses, a long prayer by Jesus which has been traditionally called "the High Priestly Prayer," in which Jesus intercedes for all those who have believed in him or will come to faith because of the latter's preaching. Looming over all of this are the events that will take place after the Last Supper.
One of the features of this prayer, which echoes through the gospel, is the adversarial tone - believers versus "the world." In the community for which the Gospel According to John was composed, there was conflict because the preaching about Jesus resulted in their being expelled from synagogues. The evangelist is seeking, through this prayer, to assure the community of Jesus' care for them. This is the kind of care that I pray for on behalf of students as they graduate and move to a diverse environment where their faith may be challenged by religious or secular indifference or by parish communities that do not have active welcome programs for young adults.
All of us are the beneficiaries of the early preaching, which has come down to us through the scriptures. Jesus does care for us, and he will care for those who come to faith because of our own preaching and example. We may not suffer martyrdom like Peter of Verona, O.P., the first Dominican to be martyred for the faith, but there will be resistance in some circles. Jesus' own prayer for us can help us to remain faithful. AMEN