John 17:1-11a... The Prayer of Jesus
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Posted:Jun 11, 2007 5:56 pm
Last Updated:Jun 12, 2007 2:28 am 2242 Views
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John 17:1-11a
The Prayer of Jesus
[Jesus] raised his eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your , so that your may glorify you, just as you gave him authority over all people, so that he may give eternal life to all you gave him. now this eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ. I glorified you on earth by accomplishing the work that you gave me to do. Now glorify me, Father, with you, with the glory that I had with you before the world began.
“I revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you gave me is from you, because the words you gave to me I have given to them, and they accepted them and truly understood that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me, because they are yours, and everything of mine is yours and everything of yours is mine, and I have been glorified them. And now I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, while I am coming to you.”
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365 Days with the Lord
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John 16:29-33... Jesus’ Departure... Reflect…
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Posted:Jun 5, 2007 5:37 am
Last Updated:Jun 5, 2007 5:40 am 2238 Views
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John 16:29-33... Jesus’ Departure... Reflect…
We hear Jesus in his Last Discourse very realistically predicting that his disciples will have to suffer. However, he also tells them that, whatever their trials, they will always find peace in him. this promise has been proven true a thousand times in the course of the centuries. As experienced master of spirituality like Benedictine monk Hubert van Zeller expresses his deep convictions on this topic:
“Lacking spirituality,” he write, “human afflictions must appear as either punitive, arbitrary, vengeful, self-induced, imposed by blind fate or bad luck. It is only Christian faith, with its orientation towards Calvary, that can make sense of suffering. It is only prayer that can make it bearable, or even acceptable. When a man has learned through prayer that there is something that not even the greatest of sufferings can take from him, he can be at peace in the midst of disturbance. Like the supposed cell of silence in the heart of the tornado, there is an enclave within the soul which is proof against any distress one can mention” (The Current of Spirituality, p. 92).
The late Martin Luther King teaches the same thing in his book Strength to Love:
“A positive religious faith,” he says, “does not offer an illusion that we shall be exempt from pain and suffering, nor does it imbue us with the idea that life is a drama of unalloyed comfort and untroubled ease. Rather, it instills us with the inner equilibrium needed to face strains, burdens and fears that inevitably come, and assures us that the universe is trustworthy and that God is concerned” (p. 123 ).
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365 Days with the Lord
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John 16:29-33... Jesus’ Departure
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Posted:Jun 5, 2007 5:27 am
Last Updated:Apr 27, 2024 7:6 am 2278 Views
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John 16:29-33
Jesus’ Departure
[Jesus] disciple said, “Now you are talking plainly, and not in any figure of speech. Now we realize that you know everything and that you do not need to have anyone question you. Because of this we believe that you came from God.” Jesus answered them, “Do you believe now?” Behold the hour is coming and has arrived when each of you will be scattered to his own home and you will leave me alone. But iam not alone, because the Father is with me. I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.”
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365 Days with the Lord
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Heaven is Our Destination
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Posted:Jun 4, 2007 7:03 pm
Last Updated:Apr 27, 2024 7:6 am 2330 Views
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Heaven is Our Destination
The Ascension of Jesus to heaven–not the event as past event, but the mystery. As such, the event is over and done with. But as mystery, the Ascension has a deep significance for our life. It teaches us many things and feeds our soul. What does it tell us that can profit us during my life’s journey.
One thing it spells out very clearly is the destination of our journey. For by rising bodily into the sky, Jesus is telling us in a most graphic way that the goal of our life is heaven. He had said to his disciples at the Last Supper: “In my Father’s house there are many dwellings places… I am going to prepare a place for you… I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be” (John 14:2-3 ). And a little later he had said in a prayer to this Father; “Father… I wish that where I am they also may be with me, that they may see my glory” (John 17:24 ). Here Jesus prays so that we may ultimately join him in heaven and happily gaze at his beauty face-to-face forever. Now, on the occasion of his Ascension, Jesus is beginning to execute his great plan. He is physically showing us that he is launching on his return to the Father, there to prepare our residence. In other words, when he entered the glorious phase of his life at the Resurrection, he has not forgotten us. Everything he does, he still does for us. Even his Ascension is a gift of reassurance. For from abandoning us, he is on his way to facilitate our blesses eternity in heaven.
Another thing which the Ascension teaches by the same token is that I must never get so involved in our various activity that we lose sight to our ultimate destination. And this can be a temptation for some of us who have a super active temperament and are always trying to do three things at the same time. It is possible to become so involved in certain activities (even religious ones!) that we eventually forget the ultimate purpose of our lives. The Ascensions reminds us of our orientation. As the apostle Paul tells the Colossians; “Seek the things that are above, where Christ is” (3:1). He likewise reminds the Philippians that “our city is in heaven” (3:20 ).
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365 Days with the Lord
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Luke 24:46-53... The Appearance to the Disciples
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Posted:Jun 4, 2007 6:56 pm
Last Updated:Jun 4, 2007 6:58 pm 2300 Views
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Luke 24:46-53
The Appearance to the Disciples
[Jesus said to his disciples,] “Thus it is written that the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are the witnesses of these things. And (behold) I am sending the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” Then he led them (out) as far as Bethany, raised his hands, and blessed them. As he blessed them he parted from them and was taken up to heaven. They did him homage and then returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and they were continually in the temple praising God.
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365 Days with the Lord
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John 16:23b-28 ... The Coming Day... Reflect
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Posted:Jun 3, 2007 7:40 am
Last Updated:Jun 3, 2007 7:41 am 2327 Views
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John 16:23b-28... The Coming Day... Reflect…
We hear Jesus tell his disciples; “Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.” Obviously, Jesus is aware that we have definite needs. He is eager to fill our needs, so that we experience joy in our lives.
In this connection, author Emile Griffin suggest the following considerations;
“It may seem odd,” she write, “but I think one of the most striking characteristics of the continuing conversion is a growth in the ability to find pleasure in ordinary experience. As we come to know the Lord better, we see how much he has given us in life that is enjoyable” (turning Reflections on the Experience of Conversion, p.193 ).
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365 Days with the Lord
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John 16:23b-28... The Coming Day
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Posted:Jun 3, 2007 7:35 am
Last Updated:Jun 3, 2007 8:21 am 2271 Views
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John 16:23b-28
The Coming Day
[Jesus said to his disciples,] “Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you. Until now you have not asked anything in my name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.
I have told you this in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures but I will tell you clearly about the Father. On that day you, will ask in my name, and I do not tell you that I will ask the Father for you. For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have come to believe that I came from God. I came from the Father and have come into the world. Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.
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365 Days with the Lord
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John 16:20-23... The Disciples' Joy... Reflect…
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Posted:Jun 2, 2007 4:11 pm
Last Updated:Jun 2, 2007 5:17 pm 2263 Views
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John 16:20-23... The Disciples' Joy... Reflect…
Spiritual author Jean Catoir writs in his humorous book enjoy the Lord A Guide to Contemplation:
We were made for happiness, he writes, “and we alone among created beings have the capacity for laughter… From our earliest days we were taught in religion class that our purpose was ultimately to be happy with God in this life and forever in the next. If only the teachers had spent more time telling us how. Saint Thomas Aquinas started in the right direction with the piece of wisdom: ‘The end of education is contemplation.’ I like the definition of contemplation that describes it as ‘the enjoyment of God.’ I do not believe the enjoyment of God should be left to monks and nuns in monasteries. We should have some fun too. (p. X )
In our gospel reading, Jesus tells his disciples that after the Resurrection they shall see him again. And he adds: “and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.” These words should still hold true for us. Whatever trials, we can always find strength and consolation–yes, abiding joy–in the thought that our Beloved is forever happy and wants us to have a joy no one can take from us.
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365 Days with the Lord
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John 16:20-23... The Disciples Joy
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Posted:Jun 2, 2007 4:04 pm
Last Updated:Jun 2, 2007 5:17 pm 2245 Views
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John 16:20-23
The Disciples Joy
[Jesus said to his disciples,] “Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices, you will grieve, but your grief will become joy. When a woman labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived; but when she has given birth to a , she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy that a has been born to the world. So you also are now in anguish. But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you. On that day you will not question me about anything. Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.”
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365 Days with the Lord
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John 16:16-20... Grief turning into Joy... Reflect
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Posted:May 31, 2007 5:16 pm
Last Updated:Jun 1, 2007 7:53 pm 2422 Views
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John 16:16-20... Grief turning into Joy... Reflect...
Our gospel features a situation reversal. Jesus first refers to his impending death. This death, he predicts, will plunge his followers into great sorrow, whereas it will delight all those who have joined forces against him. however, that situation is soon to be reversed by the Resurrection. For then, the disciples will experience a deep and abiding joy, whereas the soldiers guarding the tomb will be terrified (Mt 28:4) and the chief priest will be compelled to buy the soldiers’ silence (Mt 28:11-15)
We could say that our Christian life is somewhat patterned after what Jesus describes here, that is, as a cycle of disappearances and reappearances endlessly repeated. For example, at one time Jesus is not felt as real, as present to our hearts, especially in moments of prayer, when we would so want to experience intimacy with him. Such periods of aridity or even desolation are always painful. Fortunately, if we persevere in prayer and if we continue living our Christian life as best we can, invariably there comes a time when the presence of Jesus is again felt. These alternating desolations and consolations are the warp and woof forming the very fabric of our Christian life. They are meant to make as constantly grow in faith and trust. After a while however, faith becomes so strong that Jesus is somehow always ‘seen’ (not felt) by a kind of special eyesight of the soul. Then the Christian’s joy is practically permanent.
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365 Days with the Lord
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