Consecrate Them in the Truth May 23

Wednesday of the Seventh Week of Easter

By Melanie Rigney

Paul spoke to the presbyters of the Church of Ephseus: “I know that after my departure savage wolves will come among you, and they will not spare the flock…So be vigilant and remember that for three years, night and day, I unceasingly admonished each of you with tears. 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.” (Acts 20:29, 31-32)

Jesus prayed: “Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are 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.” (John 20: 11, 16-17)

Piety

Lord, help me devote my every action today to your praise and worship. As I encounter the “savage wolves” and those who pervert your truth, show me the true path. Hold my hand and speak your word to me.

Study

http://www.usccb.org/nab/052307.shtml

Consecrate. A word that lands on the ear so pleasantly, with those cee and ess sounds, and lands in the heart and soul with so many lovely meanings.

Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged gives as the word’s final meaning the one that may be most familiar to us: “to perform consecration (as of the elements in the Eucharist).” But in today’s readings, the words of Jesus and Paul seem to refer to this definition: “to make or declare sacred or holy; effect of the consecration of: set apart, dedicate, devote to the service or worship of God.”

Neither Paul nor Jesus leaves any illusion that living a consecrated life will be easy. Indeed, Paul warns of “savage wolves” that “will not spare the flock” and of men from within the group who “will come forward perverting the truth to draw the disciples away after them.” Jesus asks that the Father “keep them from the Evil One,” for “they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world.”

But that consecration in the truth, in the Father’s word, is the protection Jesus seeks for us. And, ultimately, it is all we need. If we are consecrated in the truth, we can go forward and help the weak and take comfort in Paul’s reminder that it was Jesus who said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

Action

http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/1993/9302fea1.asp

As Catholics, we are sometimes called upon to defend or explain our faith against “savage wolves,” those who seek to pervert us,” or those who simply are uninformed. But to defend it, we have to understand it ourselves. Have you moved beyond a fourth-grade understanding of Catholicism? Check out what’s billed as “The World’s Toughest Catholic Quiz.” Have a discussion with your prayer group about the answers you disagree with or don’t understand.