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Wednesday of 7^th Week of Easter: reflection

Theme: Let us keep the fire of faith alive in all we do

Acts 20:28-38; Jn 17:11b-19

The two readings of today's Mass come with two touching farewell messages/wills and prayers. The first reading was taken from Jesus' final prayers for his disciples before His passion, in which He commended them to God, asking God to keep them united, and protect them from the evil one for they are not of the world. Following the footsteps of Jesus, when St Paul was departing Ephesus after his missionary work there, he assembled the elders, commended them to God and gave them his parting will, charging them to take good care of the Church and to stand against wolves that would come to attack God's flock. In these two scenes, we see honest efforts to keep the faith alive and to ensure that it continues to thrive in coming generations.

From these two readings, we can extract some points that will assist us to keep alive the light of faith in our world and to pass it successfully to future generations.

First, Jesus prayed that we may be one in His name. Friends, to convince the world with the message we preach, we must eschew all backbiting, divisions, unhealthy competitions and campaign of calumny against fellow Christians.

Second, Jesus said ‘we are not of the world’. Friends, it is true that we live and operate in a world tainted by sin, with temptations lurking around every turn. However, if we must keep our faith alive, influence the world by it and successfully pass it on to future generations, we must be true to our Christian identity in all circumstances, swimming against the current of sin everywhere we find ourselves.

Third, St Paul urged the elders to guard against wolves that may attack the Christian community with perverse teachings. Friends, we have the Christian duty to stand against any ideology that goes against our Christian moral values, whether it is coming from within the church or from the state. The devil, as we know him, can use anyone to achieve his plans.

May God’s grace light up your way as you carry out the activities of this Wednesday. Amen.

Fr Isaac C. Chima