In today’s reading both Paul and Jesus stress the importance of being sent into the world to be signs of God’s love while remaining faithful to the communion and teaching received from them.
In the first reading from Acts, Paul gives his farewell address to the leaders of the community he set up through three years of evangelization. He speaks of the savage wolves in the world who will try to derail the small Christian community in Ephesus. He exhorts the leaders to remain constant to the mission, teachings, and practices received from him.
Similarly in the reading from the Gospel, we hear Jesus’ last discourse and prayer with his disciple from the Last Supper. Jesus prays that the apostles remain constant in their communion with him. Christians are called to live in the world while at the same time being signs of another dimension: God’s love. Our mission is not to live removed from the world. But rather, to be signs of God’s love amid the world. Both Jesus and Paul use hard words when speaking of the world: evil and wolves.
It is very easy to become infected by the culture around us, to fall back onto pre-Christian morality, or to slip into a comfortable natural religiosity way of life. We justify ourselves saying: I’m not evil. Everyone does it! It’s normal!
Yet a true Christian is not normal. We are sent into the world to be signs of Good News, new life, and God’s love. Taking into consideration that our modern culture is basically ego-centric and hedonistic, every Christian is called to be a counter cultural sign. We have the mission to share the love we receive from Christ and the joy that we experience from being part of the resurrection. That comes from our constancy and communion with the Risen Lord.
What does your personal life look like? What does your family life look like? Normal or something startling different?
As you sent me into the world,
so I sent them into the world.
Image: https://studyingprayer.com/2015/08/08/jesus-three-part-prayer-john-17/