Word to the Wise
Wednesday, May 24, 2023 - 7th Week of Easter - Wed
[Acts 20:28-38 and John 17:11b-19]"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." [John]
MAY 24 TRANSLATION OF ST. DOMINIC
[Acts 20:28-38 and John 17:11b-19. These are the scriptures of the season. They may vary at Dominican locations. "Translation" here means moving St. Dominic's remains from their location in a cemetery to a tomb inside the church in Bologna, Italy]
The "high priestly" prayer of Jesus continues in today's gospel scripture. Jesus prays for the disciples whom he is sending "into the world" just as he himself was sent by the Father. It is important to understand what is meant by "the world" in this gospel. It means all those who do not believe in Jesus as the one whom God has sent. This would include not only the Jewish believers in God but also the non-Jewish "world." The prayer is also referring to the disciples in existence at the time of the composition of the gospel and to us as well who would receive the "word" of Jesus through the pages of scripture and the preaching of disciples down through the ages. We are IN the world but the challenge is to not be OF the world. Jesus is praying that we will be protected from "the Evil One" that represents all those who oppose his word.
As we move, liturgically, toward the end of the Easter season at Pentecost, the challenge is a continual one to realize that WE are the ones who are being SENT INTO THE WORLD. Liturgically, the calendar will return to "ordinary time," and that means the daily preaching of Jesus' word to the "world" around us. Christianity is not lived on some abstract pious level but on the level of the ordinary challenges of everyday life. Just as we pray for others, we can remember that Jesus is praying for us. AMEN
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