JOHN 17:11-19
TODAY WE HEAR PART OF JESUS' HIGH
PRIESTLY PRAYER FOR HIS FOLLOWERS. DOES IT SOUND CONFUSING? ON
FIRST READING, IT DID TO ME. JESUS PRAYS THAT WE ALL BECOME ONE. HE
PRAYS THAT WE SHARE HIS JOY. HE TELLS US TWICE THAT WE DO NOT
BELONG IN THE WORLD ANY MORE THAN HE DOES. BUT THEN HE TELLS US HE
IS NOT ASKING THAT WE BE TAKEN OUT OF THE WORLD, AND AT THE END OF
THE PRAYER HE SENDS US INTO THE WORLD. WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?
IN THE FIRST READING WE MEET THE EARLY
CHURCH. ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY PEOPLE. THAT'S THE SIZE OF A SMALL
CULT, AND PROBABLY THE JEWISH PEOPLE THOUGHT IT WAS A CULT. BUT
CULTS EXIST, USUALLY, TO WITHDRAW FROM THE WORLD IN SOME WAY. CULTS
LIKE TO CONTROL WHAT THEIR MEMBERS SEE AND HEAR AND THEY USE SOCIAL
PRESSURE TO ACHIEVE CONFORMITY. IN CONTRAST, WHAT IS THE EARLY
CHURCH DOING? THEY ARE FOCUSED OUTWARD; THE TWELVE MEN THAT JESUS
SENT INTO THE WORLD ARE NO LONGER TWELVE, BUT THE APOSTLES WORK OUT A
SUCCESSION PLAN; THEY PRAY, THEY SELECT TWO MEN WHO HAVE WITNESSED
THE LIFE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS, AND THEY LEAVE THE FINAL
SELECTION IN GOD'S HANDS. THE POINT IS THAT THEY REALIZE THAT IF
THEY ARE GOING TO CHANGE THE WORLD, THEY NEED A WAY OF CREATING OTHER
APOSTLES.
CULTS DON'T REALLY WANT TO CHANGE THE
WORLD; SOME WANT TO MAKE THE WORLD OVER TO BE LIKE THEMSELVES, AND
OTHERS WANT TO HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE WORLD. BUT FROM THE
BEGINNING THE CHURCH IS FOCUSED ON BRINGING THE MESSAGE OF JESUS TO
THE WHOLE WORLD. AND IN ORDER TO DO THIS, JESUS MIGHT HAVE GIVEN
FOUR BULLET POINTS IN HIS PRAYER.
FIRST, YOU'VE GOT TO BE ONE. YOU'VE
GOT TO AGREE ON THE IMPORTANT THINGS. THE WORLD IS A WONDERFUL PLACE
BECAUSE OF THE VARIETY AND DIVERSITY, AND THAT'S A WONDERFUL THING
ABOUT PEOPLE AS WELL. EVEN WITHIN THE CHURCH THERE ARE THOSE WHO
LIKE GUITAR MASSES AND THOSE WHO LOVE THE ORGAN; AND THEN THERE ARE
THOSE WHO LIKE TO START OFF THEIR GOLFING WITH AN EARLY MORNING QUICK
MASS. WE HAVE SOME WHO LOVE THE TRADITIONAL LATIN MASS AND OTHERS
WHO LIVE IN GRATITUDE THAT THE MASS IS FINALLY IN THE LANGUAGES OF
THE PEOPLE. AND WE HAVE RITES; BESIDES THE ROMAN RITE, THERE ARE 32
OTHER WAYS OF CELEBRATING THE SACRAMENTS WITHIN OUR CHURCH. BUT A
BIG PROBLEM WITHIN CATHOLICISM AND WITHIN CHRISTIANITY IN GENERAL IS
THAT WE LET A LOT OF THINGS DIVIDE US WHICH ARE NOT THE IMPORTANT
THINGS.
SECOND, YOU'VE GOT TO HAVE JOY. JESUS
MORE THAN ONCE REFERS TO COMPLETE JOY, AND LINKS IT WITH HIS GOING
TO THE FATHER. THE CAUSE OF OUR JOY IS THAT HE HAS GIVEN US THE
WORDS SPOKEN TO HIM BY THE FATHER. THE CAUSE OF OUR JOY IS THAT HE
IS WITH THE FATHER INTERCEDING FOR US RIGHT NOW, THIS MINUTE. THE
CAUSE OF OUR JOY IS THAT NOTHING CAN SEPARATE US FROM HIS LOVE. ALL
OF US SHOULD GET UP EVERY MORNING AND REMIND OURSELVES WHY WE SHOULD
BE JOYFUL. POPE FRANCIS RADIATES JOY AND SO SHOULD WE. JOY IS THE
MARK OF A CHRISTIAN AND A JOYFUL CHRISTIAN IS THE BEST EVANGELIST.
THIRD, WE NEED TO REMEMBER WE ARE NOT
OF THIS WORLD. OF COURSE I DON'T MEAN THAT WE SHOULDN'T FULLY
PARTICIPATE IN OUR WORLD; WE SHOULD BE WORKING FOR JUSTICE AND PEACE;
WE SHOULD BE ENJOYING THE GOOD THINGS GOD HAS GIVEN US. WE SHOULD
RIGHT NOW BE ENJOYING THE FLOWERING DOGWOODS AND THE ODOR OF THE
LILAC BUSHES. ALL OF NATURE REMINDS US OF THE GARDEN OUR FIRST
PARENTS WERE GIVEN TO TEND, AND NOW AND THEN GOD LETS US FEEL HOW
THAT WAS BEFORE THE FALL. BUT WE ARE NOT OF THIS WORLD AND WE SHOULD
REMIND OURSELVES OF THAT AS WELL. OUR CITIZENSHIP IS IN HEAVEN AND
WE DON'T WANT TO FORGET THAT.
FOURTH JESUS SENDS US INTO THE WORLD.
HE PRAYS THAT WE WILL BE PROTECTED FROM THE EVIL ONE, BUT HE STILL
SENDS US OUT INTO A WORLD WHICH IS HOSTILE, WHICH BELIEVES THINGS WE
DON'T, WHICH LAUGHS AT HIS TEACHINGS AND IGNORES HIS SACRIFICE. AND
THE REASON IS SIMPLE, HE WANTS EACH OF HIS FOLLOWERS TO BRING GOD
INTO EVERY THING THEY DO. SAINT JOHN TELLS US THAT WHERE LOVE IS,
GOD IS. AND IF WE LOVE, GOD IS THERE. HE GOES SO FAR AS TO SAY, GOD
IS LOVE. IN THE MIDDLE OF THE TRINITY, THE BOND BETWEEN THE THREE
PERSONS IS LOVE BEYOND ALL TELLING. AND JESUS CAME TO INVITE US
INTO THIS RELATIONSHIP. ONLY LOVE WILL TRANSFORM THE WORLD, ONLY
LOVE WILL BRING ABOUT THE NEW JERUSALEM. AND MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT
IT, GOD LOVES THE WORLD – BUT HE WANTS TO PERFECT IT, TO TRANSFORM
IT, TO MAKE IT THE KIND OF PLACE IN WHICH THE FATHER WANTS HIS
CHILDREN TO LIVE. AND AS HE SHARES HIS TRINITARIAN LIFE WITH US, WE
CAN TAP INTO THE LOVE AT THE HEART OF THE TRINITY, WHICH IS
INEXHAUSTIBLE.
SO THE EARLY CHURCH GOT THE MESSAGE.
THERE WERE ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY IN THE DAYS JUST AFTER JESUS'
DEATH. DESPITE PERSECUTION AND SECOND CLASS CITIZENSHIP, BY THE TIME
CONSTANTINE LEGALIZED CHRISTIANITY, ABOUT ONE IN EVERY TEN CITIZENS
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE WAS A CHRISTIAN. CONSTANTINE MAY HAVE BEEN A
CHRISTIAN HIMSELF, BUT I THINK ANY SENSIBLE EMPEROR WOULD HAVE SEEN
THE WRITING ON THE WALL.
TODAY WE LIVE IN AN AGE WHERE WE ARE
CONSTANTLY BEING INTIMIDATED. WE ARE TOLD NOT TO BRING OUR RELIGION
INTO THE PUBLIC SQUARE; WE ARE ACCUSED OF BIGOTRY IF WE DON'T WANT
OUR COUNTRY TO LEGALIZE SAME SEX MARRIAGE. WE ARE ACCUSED OF HATING
WOMEN BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE WOMAN PRIESTS AND WE ARE AGAINST
ABORTION. IT'S EASY TO WITHDRAW INTO OUR OWN WORLD AND HANG OUT WITH
PEOPLE WHO THINK LIKE WE DO.
BUT JESUS TELLS US, JUST AS HE TOLD
THOSE FIRST FOLLOWERS, TO GO INTO THE WORLD AND BRING THEM LOVE, AND
MAKE LOVE GROW, AND WHEN LOVE IS EVERYWHERE, ALL WILL BE ONE, WE WILL
BE IN GOD AND GOD IN US, AND THE GREAT WORK JESUS STARTED WILL HAVE
BEEN FINALLY BROUGHT TO COMPLETION.
