Gospel: (Jn 17:11b-19)
I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.
“I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 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.
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St. Faustina noted in her Diary (D. 137, 142)
Aware of being united with God, I felt I was especially beloved, and that I loved Him in return with my whole soul.
I submitted completely to the working of grace; great are God’s descents to my soul. I neither withdraw nor evade Him; I sink in Him, my only treasure. I am one with the Lord; the vast distance seems to vanish between us, Creator and creature. For a few days my soul was as if in continuous ecstasy. The Divine Presence did not leave me for a single moment. And my soul continually stayed in loving union with the Lord.
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- Before His passion, Jesus prayed to Heavenly Father so that we may be one. We are all God’s children and God longs for our unity with Him and for unity among us. Do I also long for unity with God and my neighbors? Am I praying for unity in my family, community, parish, nation, Church?
- The Lord Jesus says that the Father sanctifies us by the truth; His word is truth. How often do I take the Bible into my hands and spend time praying to God, who secretly speaks to my heart?
- This week I will pray for the unity in my family and community. I will draw the necessary strength through personal prayer with God’s Word.
