Word to the Wise
Wednesday, June 4, 2025 - 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....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 ehm into the world. And I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth." [John]
JUNE 4 ST. PETER OF VERONA O.P. [first Dominican martyr]
In this portion of the High Priestly prayer in the Last Supper discourse, Jesus prays for those who are already his disciples. Two things are worth noting.
The first is that Jesus prays the disciples will be "one" with him just as he is "one" with his Father, and that the Father will protect them. The "world" is the world of unbelief which will always stand in opposition, sometimes violently so. This does not mean that believers must turn their backs to those who do not believe, but rather be strong in reaching out.
The purpose of the close union with Christ is to know the truth and proclaim it. The earlier lines in the gospel, "You will know the truth and the truth will make you free," [John 8:31-32] are echoed now in this prayer. Jesus speaks of consecrating himself so that believers can be consecrated. His entire mission is to bring the truth of God to the "world." That mission is continued in those who believe and proclaim him as the one whom God has sent. Tomorrow the prayer will turn toward those to whom we are sent. Stay tuned! AMEN