“Instead they had some issues with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus who had died but who Paul claimed was alive. Since I was at a loss how to investigate this controversy, I asked if he were willing to go to Jerusalem and there stand trial on these charges.” (ACTS 25: 19-20)
Paul’s trial was a good opportunity for evangelization, but Paul wanted to use the occasion to appeal to a wider audience and to go to the capital of his world, so he “appealed that he be held in custody for the Emperor’s decision, I ordered him held until I could send him to Caesar.” And there is only one reason for Paul’s request: “Jesus who had died” is alive. This is the central truth of our faith. And Paul knows how important it is to proclaim this truth everywhere.
“The Holy Spirit will teach you everything and remind you of all I told you.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“I gave them your word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world.” (JN 17: 14)
We received the most precious gift from Our Lord–the word of God the Father. We are somehow connected by this word. Our Lord received the word of God’s love for us and gave it to us. We should protect this word and share it with others in the world. This word proclaims the best message for everybody in this world—we are loved, but “the world hates us, because we do not belong to the world.” This world can’t exist without love and at the same moment rejects this love. So even if we are rejected and hated, we need to proclaim the good news because people have to know.
“Your word, O Lord, is truth; consecrate us in the truth.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“Now they know that everything you gave me is from you, because the words you gave to me I have given to them, and they accepted them and truly understood that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me. I pray for them” (JN 17, 7-9)
We are protected by Our Lord’s prayer. He prays for us to God, the Father; He talks about us to Him. At the same moment, Our Lord shares with us the words the Father gave to Him; the words about His love for us, redemption and our relationship with Him. We are loved by the Father, and this love is given to us every day with Our Lord’s love, and the words received from Him and given to us are always about this love.
“I will ask the Father and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.” (JN 16: 33)
Trouble and the world go together. The world, which was created by God, now is dominated by governments,which at the very least ignore their Creator. But the last word belongs to God, Who not only created but also conquered the world, and we know that in the end there will be a new world and a new heaven. This is the reason we should always be focused on Our Lord and “might have peace in Him.” The world never gives peace—only sometimes pleasure.
“If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of the God.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“But they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.” (MK 16: 20)
The previous sentence in today’s Gospel says: “So then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them, was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God.” And immediately after it says: “while the Lord worked with them.” It is not a paradox but God’s love. He never abandons us. He is always with us because we are sent to proclaim His word. And He “confirms the word through accompanying signs.”
“Go and teach all nations, says the Lord; I am with you always, until the end of the world.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you. Until now you have not asked anything in my name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.’” (JN 16: 23-24)
“Ask the Father in my name” and “He will give you.” Every father loves to be asked by his children because when we ask, we show our love and trust and that we expect from him all the best and that we depend on him. The joy which is at the end of asking is connected with relationship; there is no greater joy than to be important to someone.
“I came from the Father and have come into the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“’Do not be afraid. Go on speaking, and do not be silent, for I am with you. No one will attack and harm you, for I have many people in this city.’ He settled there for a year and a half and taught the word of God among them.” (ACTS 18: 9-11)
Our Lord needs us to proclaim the Good News in our houses and workplaces and in our society. If we are afraid of this, it is because we know how unworthy we are to be God´s messengers, and we think that this will reduce the power of God’s word. But His word is stronger than our weaknesses and our limits, and the power does not come from us but from God himself: “I am with you.” And when we start, many can join us–“for I have many people in the city.”
“Christ had to suffer and to rise from the dead, and so enter into his glory.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“Then they prayed, ‘You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this apostolic ministry from which Judas turned away to go to his own place.’ Then they gave lots to them, and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was counted with the Eleven Apostles.” (ACTS 1: 24-26)
Our Lord “knows the hearts of all,” and He prepares us for service in the Church in the best place for us. Some are elected to be apostles (or their successors), some to be missionaries, and some husbands and fathers. We are given different vocations and different roles but always the same unconditional love of Our Lord, who chooses for us the best: “show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this apostolic ministry.” We are His children, chosen to bring everlasting fruits not by what we do, but especially by who we are and how much we love Him and His Church. We are chosen to be not to do only. “He was counted with the Eleven Apostles.”
“I chose you from the world, to go and bear fruit that will last, says the Lord.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“Rather it is he who gives to everyone life and breath and everything. He made from one the whole human race to dwell on the entire surface of the earth, and he fixed the ordered seasons and the boundaries of their regions, so that people might seek God, even perhaps grope for him and find him, though indeed he is not far from any one of us. For ‘In him we live and move and have our being,’ as even some of your poets have said, ‘For we too are his offspring.’” (ACTS 17: 25-28)
What a beautiful message for everyone we have received—“we too are His offspring.” He protects our identity, our relationships and our lives. “Indeed he is not far from any one of us.”
Our Lady who appears in so many places from Guadalupe to Lourdes brings the same message: we are beloved children of God. He loves us unconditionally. Today we celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Fatima. She asked the children to pray the Rosary and to fast for sinners, “so that people might seek God, even perhaps grope for him and find him.” This is also our role today. We can share with others our love for Him and all the signs of love we have received, “so the people might seek God.”
“I will ask the Father and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always.” (Gospel Acclamation)
“But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go. For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.” (Jn 16: 7)
Better, because “the Advocate will come to us”—we are never abandoned, never forgotten and never left to our own, always protected, always assisted and always loved beyond imagination. We have to believe, especially when we are tempted to feel that we are alone, “it is better for you that I go… But if I go, I will send him to you.”
“I will send to you the Spirit of truth, says the Lord; he will guide you to all truth.” (Gospel Acclamation)
