May 26, 2009

Acts 20:17-27
17From Miletus Paul sent word to Ephesus, summoning the elders of the Church. 18When they came to him, he addressed them, “You know how I lived among you from the first day I set foot in the province of Asia, 19how I served the Lord in humility through the sorrows and trials that the Jews caused me. 20You know that I never held back from doing anything that could be useful for you; I spoke publicly and in your homes 21and I urged Jews and non-Jews alike to turn to God and believe in our Lord Jesus.
22But now I am going to Jerusalem, chained by the Spirit, without knowing what will happen to me there. 23Yet in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that imprisonment and troubles await me. 24Indeed I put no value on my life, if only I can finish my race and complete the service to which I have been assigned by the Lord Jesus, to announce the good news of God’s grace.
25I now feel sure that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom of God will ever see me again. 26Therefore I declare to you this day that my conscience is clear with regard to all of you. 27For I have spared no effort in fully declaring to you God’s will.

Commentaries: Paul returns to Palestine. He had a presentiment or he knew by a revelation of the Holy Spirit that another phase of his life was about to begin: the years of prison and trials. So he wished to say goodbye to all the leaders of the Church in the Roman province of Asia. He did not know all of them well, since the evangelization of this province had been the work of his team of assistants (20:4). These leaders are called elders in verse 17 and inspectors (or “episcopes,” from which we have bishops) in verse 28. See on this subject the commentary on Phil 1:1.
Paul gives his own example and develops the obligations of “pastors” in the Church (v. 28). He then invites them not to enclose themselves in the role of president or administrator of the community: they must prepare it for difficult times. Let them compare themselves with Paul and ponder on the sacrifices that the apostolic task demands of him. Is it good for them to rely on another – an apostle of course – when they are confronted with difficulties?
In verses 28-30, we have the warning of divisions and heresies in the Church: the same message will reappear in the Pastoral Letters (2 Tim 3:1-9). We are used to seeing Christians divided. For Paul, it was unthinkable. When he speaks of “the Churches of Christ” (Rom 16:4, 16; 1 Cor 4:17; 11:16), he is only thinking of the local communities who communicate among themselves and all accept without discussion the same faith and tradition of the apostles. Paul alludes to what awaits him: all that we can do is to follow Christ, who has acquired his Church by his own blood. Only in heaven will a leader of the Church find rest and retirement (20:32).
In verses 33-35 Paul takes up the resignation discourse of Samuel (1 S 12:3). How quickly can a person be self-serving and look after self in any apostolic work.
The text also mentions the “bishops” (that word means inspectors). We do not know if they are the elders themselves, or only some of them, those with greater responsibility.



Psalms 68:10-21
10Then you gave a rain of blessings to comfort your weary children.
11Your people found a dwelling and in your mercy, O God, you provided for the needy.
12The Lord has dispatched messengers: “The Lord has shattered an army!” 13The kings and their armies flee, yes, they flee, they flee!
14A woman at home divides the spoils: wings of dove covered with silver, their pinions with shining gold.
15When the Lord routed the kings, snow fell on the Dark Mountain.
16O mighty mountain of Bashan, high and rugged mountain, 17why look with envy upon the mountain where God chooses to reign, where the Lord will dwell forever?
18With myriads of powerful chariots, the Lord came from Sinai into his sanctuary.
19He ascended the high mountain, leading captives in his train, taking people as tributes, even rebels, to his dwelling.
20Blessed be the Lord, God our savior, who daily bears our burdens!
21Ours is a God who saves; our Lord lets us escape from death.


Jn 17:1-11
1 After saying this, Jesus lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; give glory to your Son, that the Son may give glory to you. 2You have given him power over all mortals, and you want him to bring eternal life to all you have entrusted to him. 3For this is eternal life: to know you, the only true God, and the One you sent, Jesus Christ.
4I have glorified you on earth and finished the work that you gave me to do. 5Now, Father, give me in your presence the same Glory I had with you before the world began.
6I have made your name known to those you gave me from the world. They were yours and you gave them to me, and they kept your word. 7And now they know that all you have given me comes indeed from you. 8I have given them the teaching I received from you, and they received it and know in truth that I came from you; and they believe that you have sent me.
9I pray for them; I do not pray for the world but for those who belong to you and whom you have given to me – 10indeed all I have is yours and all you have is mine – and now they are my glory. 11I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world whereas I am going to you. Holy Father, keep them in your Name (that you have given me,) so that they may be one, just as we are.

Commentaries: ONE AND HOLY
Priestly Prayer is the name many give to that prayer in which Christ, before he died, offered to sacrifice his own life, as both priest and victim (v. 19). The word to consecrate applied to two things: the priest was consecrated, that is, was made worthy to offer the sacrifice, and he also consecrated (made holy) the victim on sacrificing it.
Jesus put an end to the Old Testament form of worship that the Jews rendered to God in the Temple for centuries. The Israelites were holy; that is to say, their mission among all the nations was to serve the Holy God, whom they knew by a special privilege.
Jesus prays for his own so that they may become the new people (Ps 102:19), consecrated to God, this time according to the truth (v. 17). He will pour over them the Spirit of Truth, who has been promised to Israel and will instruct us interiorly.
Keep them in your Name (v. 11). In other words: keep them in the radiance of your own sanctity, with which you embrace your Son. At that moment Jesus prayed for his Church, to whom he entrusted his own mission. The principal duty of the Church is to know God. (The word to know is repeated seven times, clearly showing that it expresses the essence of the discourse). Whatever the situation of the Church might be, its proper and indispensable mission will be to keep and proclaim the true knowledge of God and the commandment of his Son.
Jesus wants each of his own to know God. This knowledge comes to us when we interiorize the word of God, persevere in prayer and join community celebrations. In this we will have the help of the Holy Spirit, from whom come the gifts of knowledge and wisdom (Col 1:9). From knowledge will spring good works and love; this is the beginning of eternal life (v. 3) in which we will see God as he is (1 Jn 2:3).
Jesus prayed that his Church might be one, that is to say, that it might be the sign of unity in a divided world. It is not enough that Christ is preached; it is also necessary for the world to see in its midst the Church, one and united.
Catholic Church, means, universal. In the Church no one is a stranger. One Church, through one same spirit, and through the visible unity of its members.
The history of the Church seems to run counter to the prayer of Christ. Jesus desired unity; the evangelists relate how he named Peter as visible head of the apostolic group and the entire Church. However, to maintain unity among people of different temperaments and various cultures requires much love and understanding.
From the beginning some began to reject the faith as taught by the apostles, and several groups or sects appeared.
For historical reasons, the countries of the Roman world were divided into two main empires: one of the Orient, with the patterns of Greek culture and that of the Occident (Europe), where the medieval culture developed. After the invasions of the barbaric peoples, contact between the Christians of these two parts became very difficult. Because they lived the same faith with different traditions and religious practices, they began to consider themselves as having different religions. That was how the Oriental churches, that is, the Orthodox, separated from the Roman Church.
Much later the negligence of the hierarchy in not ending the abuses and useless human traditions led the Protestants or Evangelicals to found new churches, which they called reformed churches. This separation, however, had deeper political, social and economic roots. It was part of a cultural crisis that obliged Christians to revise their views regarding the Bible, philosophy and politics. According to whatever stand one took concerning these issues, one joined the Protestants or stayed with the Catholic Church.
In our times, we have a better understanding of these past difficulties. Many Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants are attempting to unite as believers. At the same time, however, new problems have arisen within each Church. Today Christians disagree and are split, not only in their political options, but also in their understanding of Christ and their views on how his message is best delivered in our time.
Ecumenism, that is, efforts to reconcile in truth and bring the Churches together, demands that we overcome the new dissensions that threaten the internal unity of the Church. All of us must work so that the unity of all Christians may be realized as Christ desires, and by the means he wants. In any case, nothing can be done without obeying the truth and doing the truth. In no way can we disregard Peter’s charism of unity that is granted to Peter’s successors.