Sanctified in Divine Love

Weekly Missionary Reflection
7th Sunday of Easter, 12 May 2024
Acts 1:15-17,20a,20c-26; Ps. 103:1-2,11-12,19-20ab; 1John 4:11-16; John 17:11b-19

Today is the 7th Sunday of Easter, and soon we will celebrate the Pentecost. The church invites us to ponder the message of Jesus to His apostles before He was arrested and crucified. Looking closely at the Gospel readings of the previous weeks, we can see the big picture of the last moments of Jesus being with His disciples.  Jesus knew that the time had come for Him to leave His disciples. Therefore, He gave them teachings and made them strong. 

Today’s Gospel has Jesus’ prayer to His Father for the apostles. “And now I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, while I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are.” (John 17:11) It’s important to ponder that the unity of the Trinity God is a loving relation. God is love, and Jesus repeatedly teaches that we can experience Himself through love. However, Christian love carries values that are often not different from worldly offers. 

Each of us should experience how the struggle of living the Christian faith puts us in a difficult situation in our daily lives. We might have been misunderstood, excluded, and felt the difficulty in fighting against worldly pleasure around us. Such a situation has happened since the time of the apostles.  Jesus knows our situation in the world and prays to the Father in heaven so that we are “sanctified” while dwelling in this world. “As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.” (John 17:18-19)

Dear brothers and sisters, as the followers of Jesus Christ, we are never alone. As Jesus prayed and gave strength to His disciples, He also prayed and strengthened us. The risen Jesus from the dead is true proof that love is beyond everything. Let us, full of faith and hope, be persistent in prayer and love. May our presence in the family, community, and society always bring the presence of the risen Jesus Christ. God bless. 

(Br. Kornelius Glossanto, SX – Xaverian Missionary)

DAILY DEDICATED PRAYER

Lord, our Father, I present my today prayer, thought, word, work, joy, and sorrow in unity with Your Son, Jesus Christ, who always presents Himself in the Eucharist for the salvation of the world. May the Holy Spirit animating Jesus, also be my guidance and strength today so that I am ready to be the witness of Your love.

Together with Mary, Mother of Jesus, and the Church, in particular, I present my prayer for our Pope and apostle prayer of the Indonesian Church of this month:

Universal Church Intent: For the formations of religious and seminarians
We pray that religious women and men, and seminarians, grow in their vocations through their human, pastoral, spiritual and community formation, leading them to be credible witnesses to the Gospel.

Indonesian Church Intent: Content creator and influencer
We pray that the content creators and influencers be able to produce content of positive message, honesty and unity building.

Amen.