Word to the Wise
Wednesday, May 19, 2021 - 7th Week of Easter - Wed
[Acts 20:28-38 and John 17:11b-19]"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......I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the evil one....Consecrate them in the 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." [John] "And now I commend you to God and to that gracious word of his that can build you up and give you the inheritance among all who are consecrated." When he had finished speaking he knelt down and prayed with them all. They were all weeping loudly as they threw their arms around Paul and kissed him, for they were deeply distressed that he had said that they would never see his face again. [Acts]
Farewells can be difficult, as I have witnessed often at graduation times or the many times I have moved in my life as a Dominican friar. For the past few days I have seen tears flowing (some of them mine) here at Texas Tech. The Farewell Discourse at the Last Supper in the Gospel According to John is joined today with St. Paul's farewell speech to the Elders at Miletus. It is a touching scene. Paul would be headed to Jerusalem where he would ultimately be arrested and sent to Rome for trial. Like all departing pastors, he worries about the flock he is leaving and all the efforts he made on their behalf. In the Farewell Discourse passage in today's gospel scripture, Jesus prays for those whom he has chosen as disciples that "they also may be consecrated in truth." In the Gospel According to John, truth is faith in the one whom God has sent, Jesus the only-begotten Son.
One way the Lord has made departures a bit easier for me is to see how the lives of those whom I had to say farewell to have developed over the years and how they have "kept the faith." I have celebrated their weddings and baptized their children and now their grandchildren!!!! This tells me that my prayers for them have been worthwhile. The results of Jesus' and Paul's lives have been the disciples who have carried on the faith and ministry over the centuries. We follow in their footsteps. Jesus is praying for us. I don't think we could find a better intercessor! AMEN