Seventh Tuesday of Easter – Acts 20:17-27; John 17:1-11
I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me. Jn 17
Rejection, humiliation, and at times ridicule were for Paul an opportunity to unite himself with the suffering Jesus. He even expressed a certain pride that he experienced all this for the cause of Christ. And what is my faith like when I encounter opposition?
Do I focus on pleasures, on avoiding problems, on relying upon a comfortable and peaceful life? By being too deeply rooted in the world, we flee from the sacrifice, hardship, and effort involved in the continual search for and knowledge of God. At times, perhaps in this way we even oppose God and His commandments. God is not known once and for all; this is a constant act of the will and the mind, leading to a daily examination of one’s moral attitudes before the loving God. It often requires sacrifice and humiliation.
Today Jesus intercedes for those whom the Father has entrusted to Him, describing them as those who “know in truth.” He is convinced of their faith, though He called them from the world, even though He knows they will betray Him and flee from beneath the Cross. He knows that sometimes a fall is needed in order to see one’s weaknesses and acknowledge them before God, so as to follow Him. Jesus promises help and support to everyone; He sends the Comforter. Only openness to Him leads to the knowledge of the Truth and gives strength to bear witness to the faith, even to a martyr’s death.
