May the Risen Lord grant you grace and peace in the Ho It is 23rd May 2023.
We reflect on Acts 20:17-27 and John 17:1-11
“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” —Albert Einstein
Is our life glorifying the Lord?
We have just heard the famous last words of Jesus as a priestly prayer and of St Paul’s farewell discourse as he left Ephesus for Rome in today’s readings.
A day will come we all have to part and depart our ways. Whether we like it or not, we all have to leave one day our relationship, career, profession, and even life we treasured most. It is all about the question of time. We savour happiness in the shadows of sufferings in our life. Obstacles do not hinder our vision of life when we have our destination and dream to be near God and suffering humanity marked out clearly. To keep moving, we need to keep up the pace with God and humanity. God is not interested in winning over us, but God is concerned that we must not lose the battle with sin, suffering, and evil.
Reaching God and tasting eternal life is not possible when we are stuck, stubborn, and stabbed by sin. Teasing pain, and suffering do not reduce it but by greasing it with love for God and compassion for suffering humanity.
It is the time to take an inventory of our life. does our life balance with God? Or do we have a shortfall of love, compassion, kindness, mercy, and forgiveness? Carl Gustav Jung “Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.” The Spirit of truth will lead us to face the complete truth. (Jn.16:13). The Holy Spirit enhances our vision of God and longing to reach the shore at the other end.
Would we be contented and satisfied for having completed the task or the responsibility entrusted by God to us so far personally and as a believing community?
Both Jesus and Paul had job satisfaction and fulfilment of the mission. “I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do.” (Jn.17:41).
To achieve this we all need single-mindedness, faithfulness, conviction, commitment, and willingness to glorify God in all we do and speak. As Jesus leaves the world, he prayed for his mission, the immediate and future disciples.
Prayer eases all our fear and offers the inner stamina to face the rear and the real. Jesus glorified God in His resurrection; Paul imitated Jesus through the ministry;(1 Cor.11:1) who do we emulate and glorify in our life? It is time to look back and see how far we from God and humanity are.
When we have not yet mastered love enough, how could we go on catering to hatred in response to the evil around us?
May our lives glorify God. May you have a good day. God bless you.