Santhiya Philomone csc –
Readings: Acts 20: 28-38; Jn 17: 11b-19
In the first reading, Paul reminded the elders of the church of Ephesus how he ministered to them for three years, teaching them how to receive forgiveness from God for their sins by placing their faith in Jesus’ sacrifice. In this Gospel, Jesus reminds us of how we should stay authentic in our words and deeds.
Today, we live in a world, which does not know how to be truly happy with the happiness of Jesus, a world that seeks the happiness of the world in all the wrong places and in the wrong ways. Seeking happiness without Jesus only leads to deeper unhappiness.
Jesus prayed to his Father in the Gospel today, “I speak this in the world so that they may share my joy completely” (Jn 17: 13). How can we acquire more and more of this joy of Jesus? Obviously, from Jesus himself, Jesus is the only one who gives us the true joy that the world is lacking. Jesus said, “If you remain in me and my words in you, you may ask whatever you want, and it will be given to you” (Jn 15: 7).
Let us spend time each day in prayer with the words of Jesus in the Scriptures. Let them be our food, so that we may be satisfied with the joy of Jesus. “Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon.” (Benedict XVI).