As I reflect on today’s gospel proclamation, my heart is overwhelmed with the immense love and protection of our Lord Jesus Christ to his disciples. In and through the resurrection of our Lord, we too are his disciples and we share the same privilege of receiving this same, powerful intercession of our Lord Himself.

Because of our sinful nature, we keep conforming ourselves to the ways of this world and reap the negative consequence that rob us of our joy. In today’s gospel proclamation what touches me most deeply is our Lord’s plea to the Heavenly Father saying ‘I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the Evil One’ (John 17:15) The Lord Jesus knew our weaknesses and, in His mercy, pleaded with the heavenly Father to keep us from the evil one. The Lord Jesus also speaks of His desire for us to share in His joy completely. (John 17:13) My mind runs back to the latter part of last year, where the Lord led me to pray only for one thing for myself.I was in my own struggles with continuous complex work assignments and related issues, family bereavements and many other periodic trails. I was interceding for all my trails but the Lord showed me clearly how to pray. I earnestly prayed for the joy of the Lord. Today I am convinced as I proclaim His word from the gospel of St. John that the Lord Jesus Himself has interceded for me to the Father, that no matter what, I would not lose the joy of the Lord. From the beginning of this year, I have had many trials and our faithful God has not let the evil one take over.

The proof of that for me is that I have not lost the joy of the Lord even once. This today is ample proof of the power of the intercession of our Lord Jesus Christ. The psalmist today speaks of this power of the Lord. And the first reading speaks of the departure of St. Paul on mission. This is just as the Lord Jesus commanded by His request to go unto the ends of the earth and preach the good news. In the context of the Gospel proclamation and the rest of the readings today, for me, the good news is to know that 2000 years after the death of our Lord, He is still
working and His intercession to the Father is most powerful.

Prayer: Abba Father, empower us with your joy that we may boldly proclaim your word with the same power and impact. Amen