A mission of love to make us one

Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed, saying: “Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one.” – Jn 17:11b

What motivated Jesus to lay down His life on the cross as the atoning sacrifice for the sin of the world? It was love - love for His Father in Heaven and love for each and every one of us who are made in the image and likeness of God. Jesus was sent into the world by His Father for a purpose and that purpose was a mission of love to free us from slavery to sin, Satan, fear, death, and hopelessness. Jesus saw glory in the cross rather than shame. Obedience to His Father's Will was His glory. Jesus kept His Father's word even when tempted to forgo the cross. Jesus did not rely on His own human resources and strength to accomplish His Father's Will. He trusted in His Father to give Him strength, courage, and perseverance in the face of opposition, trials, and temptation.  If we are one with Christ, are we also trusting the Father to give us all we need to get through our trials and tribulations?

God created us for a purpose and a mission.  We also must take up our cross and follow the Lord Jesus wherever He may call us. He will give us the strength and power of the Holy Spirit to live as His disciples. St John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801-1890) wrote: "God has created me to do him some definite service; he has committed some work to me which he has not committed to another. I have my mission - I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for nothing. Therefore, I will trust him. Whatever, wherever I am. I cannot be thrown away." Do you trust in God and in His call and purpose for your life?

We have been consecrated in truth and holiness because Jesus prayed that His disciples would be sanctified and consecrated in God's truth and holiness. Listen again to the end of today’s Gospel when Jesus said, “And I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth.” (Jn 17:19) The scriptural word for consecration comes from the same Hebrew word which means holy or set apart for God. This word also means to be equipped with the qualities of mind and heart and character for such a task or service.  The Holy Spirit, at the request of Jesus, gives us what we need as His disciples to be sent out into the world on His behalf.

Just as Jesus was called by the Father to serve in holiness and truth, so we, too, are called and equipped for the task of serving God in the world as His disciples. God's truth frees us from ignorance and the deception of sin. It reveals to us God's goodness, love, and wisdom. And it gives us a thirst for God's holiness. The Holy Spirit is the source and giver of all holiness. As we allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives, He transforms us by His purifying fire and changes us into the likeness of Christ. What actions in our life show how we have dedicated ourselves to be all God created us for?

"Lord Jesus, take my life and make it wholly pleasing to you. Sanctify me in your truth and guide me by your Holy Spirit that I may follow you faithfully wherever you lead."

May God’s Grace and Blessings Always be with you and yours!!  Our Lady of Guadalupe – Pray for us!!

Yours in Christ,

Deacon Bob

St. Clare of Assisi, Houston TX