"Farewell
Expressions of Love" 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… 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.” When he had finished speaking, he knelt down and
prayed with them all. (Acts 20:28,
31-32, 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
Lord, we are grateful for
your love and your presence in the midst of all the Covid-19 turmoil. Whether it’s in sickness or in care-giving,
in quarantining at home, social distancing or on the front lines as a first
responder, keep us together in Your Name, we pray.
Study
Over the last month and a
half, our Scripture readings have been full of farewell preparations, leave-taking,
returns, and further farewells. We
celebrated our Lord’s Ascension into heaven this past Sunday. Now we wait liturgically for the coming of
the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
I have just finished a 30-day
virtual retreat,” Ascending with Ignatius,” led by Jesuit Father Mark
Thibodeaux, which has followed the outline of St. Ignatius’ Spiritual
Exercises. I don’t think I’ve ever before been drawn quite
so deeply into the love of Christ or so appreciated the need to be one with Him
in community. The retreat ended with
the story of Jesus’ Ascension.
That same love shines
forth from both of our Scripture readings today. The Apostle Paul, in the first reading, is
about to leave Ephesus after three years.
We see and hear him praying for his friends who are the church leaders
there. He knows without a doubt that there
will be days of hardship ahead. He says that upon his departure, savage wolves will come
among you, and they will not spare the flock.
He tells them
the day will come when false disciples will emerge from within the Ephesian
church itself and attempt to lure the people away from the Gospel. There will be danger both from within and
without the young church, and Paul urges the presbyters to be on guard. Amidst tears of sadness and grief, he kneels
and prays for his friends in the faith. What
more loving thing can we do for our friends than pray for them? Saddened by this leave-taking, there is much
hugging and kissing before the Apostle boards his ship.
In
today’s Gospel, we return to the farewell discourses of Jesus. He, too, prays for those He is leaving
behind. He asks his Father to keep these
beloved friends together, united just as Jesus and the Father are one. Being the Church is about being in community. (It’s never just a Jesus and me thing.) His friends will be hated, He says, just as He
has been hated. I know you can’t save
them from that, Abba, but I ask you to keep them safe from the Evil One. Consecrate them in the truth of your
word. Jesus can’t keep them his friends
from suffering, but he can see to it that their suffering is filled with the
presence of God.
Action
In the midst of these difficult
times, know that Jesus is present with you as He was with his original friends. Lift before Him your needs and those of the
people around you when you pray today.
In a situation where there is so much suffering, go beyond prayer, and
reach out to others. It could be a phone
call to someone lonely, a donation of food to a food pantry, an offer to do
someone’s grocery shopping who can’t get out to the store – whatever you feel
called to do to be in community with your brothers and sisters in Christ.
IMAGE 1: St.
Paul’s Departure from Ephesus, stained glass, St. Mary’s Church, Horsham, West
Sussex, UK, GNU Free Documentation License, Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St_Mary%27s,_Horsham_stained_glass_4.jpg
IMAGE 2: Albrecht
Dürer,
Praying Hands, 1508, Albertina Museum, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Praying_Hands_-_Albrecht_Durer.png
No comments:
Post a Comment