“Prayerful Farewells” by Colleen O’Sullivan
At Miletus, Paul spoke to the presbyters of the Church of Ephesus: “Keep watch over yourselves and over the whole flock of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you overseers, in which you tend the Church of God that he acquired with his own Blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come among you, and they will not spare the flock. And from your own group, men will come forward perverting the truth to draw the disciples away after them… When he had finished speaking he knelt down and prayed with them all. (Acts 20:28-30, 36)
Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed, saying: "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. (John 17:11b, 15, 16-17)
Piety
O Lord, continue to commend your Church’s needs to your Father, we pray. We are as susceptible to the wiles of the Evil Spirit today as were your first disciples, and your flock throughout the world continues to face attacks both from within and without.
Study
I don’t like change. I never have. I especially don’t like endings. But endings and farewells are part of every person’s path through life. No matter how comfortable we are with the status quo, the one certainty is that, at some point, things will change.
Given that endings are unavoidable, I have to say that today’s Scripture readings touched me deeply. There is such great love embodied in both Paul’s and Jesus’ words of farewell. The apostle Paul doesn’t often come across to me as a warm, fuzzy person. But here we see that he was evidently greatly loved. He is saying goodbye to his friends in Ephesus. We read that many tears are shed and there is much hugging and kissing as the apostle prepares to depart.
Beyond that, however, he takes the time to warn his friends in Christ that hard times lie ahead for the young Church. After Paul leaves, he senses that enemies will attack from within as well as from without. Savage wolves will come from the outside and attempt to destroy what Paul has worked hard to build up. Maybe an even more insidious evil will be seen in those who call themselves followers of Christ at the very moment they are perverting the teachings of the Gospel. Paul does the very best thing he can for them; he prays for them.
The Gospel reading for today opens with Jesus praying for his friends. There isn’t much time left for talking. Jesus takes the remaining minutes and prays that just as he and his Father are one, so the disciples might be one. Jesus knows his followers will be working in the world and knows just as well that the Evil One will be working at least as diligently against them, so he asks God to protect them from the Evil Spirit. Jesus asks, too, that they be consecrated in God’s truth.
Action
Jesus loves you and me today every bit as much as he loved his first disciples. He continues to place the needs of his followers in his Father’s hands. When you are praying today, imagine Jesus looking you in the eye and asking his Father for whatever you need. How does it feel to be so loved?
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