Gospel: June 4, 2025
June 4, 2025 (Wednesday)
7th Week of Easter
Psalter: Week 3 / (White)
Ps 68:29-30, 33-35a,
35bc-36ab
Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth.
1st Reading: Acts 20:28-38
Gospel: John 17:11b-19
Holy Father, keep those you have given me in your name, so that they may be one, as we also are.
When I was with them, I kept them safe in your name; and not one was lost, except the one who was already lost, and in this, the Scripture was fulfilled. And now I come to you; in the world I speak these things, so that those whom you gave me, might have joy all my joy within themselves.
I have given them your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world, I do not ask you to remove them from the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth. I have sent them into the world as you sent me into the world; and for their sake, I go to the sacrifice by which I am consecrated, so that they too may be consecrated in truth.
Reflection:
“To bring the truth to others.”
If we think about the word consecrate, we might find it strange that Jesus applies it to himself, as we often think of consecrate as meaning “to make holy.” However, this meaning fits into the wider notion of “setting apart” for God’s service, a dedication of self or of things to God’s purposes. Thus, Christ, who is holy, cannot be made holy, but he can continually renew his commitment to dedicate himself to the Father’s will. This is what he does in what’s known as the Priestly Prayer of John 17. He dedicates himself to the Father’s saving plan, a dedication that is made complete in his self-sacrifice on the cross, and he prays for his disciples, that they too might be set apart for God’s service through a dedication to the fullness of truth that is only found in God. The consecration of Jesus and his disciples are intertwined. In Christ’s self-giving, he reveals the true meaning of life to which they are to dedicate themselves. It is to this Good News that Saint Paul has shed blood, sweat and tears, and he is willing to give everything for Christ to bring that truth to others.
