Daily Reflection | Gospel Reading | RVA

Gospel: John 21:20-25
Peter looked back and saw that the disciple Jesus loved was following as well, the one who had reclined close to Jesus at the supper, and had asked him, “Lord, who is to betray you?” On  seeing him, Peter asked Jesus, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain until I come, is that any concern of yours? Follow me!”Because of this, the rumor spread in  the community that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to Peter, “He will not die,” but, “Suppose I want him to remain until I come back, what concern is that of yours?” It  is this disciple who testifies about the things and has written these things down, and we know that his testimony is true. But Jesus did many other things; if all were written down, I think  the world itself could not contain the books that should be written.

Reflections
“Follow me!”The passage is the last part of John’s gospel. Peter would like to focus on John who reclined close to Jesus at Last Supper. How about him? Will he undergo the same? Jesus’ reply  seems to mean it should not be his (Peter’s) con­cern. His concern should rather be following Jesus.The last paragraph introdu­ces the gospel writer we know as John the Evangelist. He  testifies or certifies that everything he has written in the gospel story is true. We understand the truth here as something to do for our salva­tion, not so much the accuracy of the data  presented. The writer limited his story to just a few episodes on the life of Jesus and that is enough for his audience. The reader or listener will come to know more about Jesus in the  process when he is also doing God’s works and dying on his own cross for the love of Jesus.Each Christian should ask, “How about me?” What does Je­sus want of me? The answer must be clear:  “Follow Jesus.” Follow him as he is described in the Gos­pel. Therefore we must not stop reading and reflecting the gospel and acting accordingly.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2019

Gospel: John 21:15-19
After they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these do?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” And Jesus said,  “Feed my lambs.”A second time Jesus said to him, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” And Peter answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Look after my  sheep.”And a third time he said to him, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”Peter was saddened because Jesus asked him a third time, “Do you love me?” and he said, “Lord, you know  everything; you know that I love you.”Jesus then said, “Feed my sheep! Truly, I say to you, when you were young, you put on your belt and walked where you liked. But when you grow old, you  will stretch out your hands, and another will put a belt around you, and lead you where you do not wish to go.”Jesus said this to make known the kind of death by which Peter was to glorify God. And he added, “Follow me!”

Reflections
“Simon, son of John, do you love me?”Jesus asks seemingly sim­ple, easy and the same question to Peter. Actually, the question asked three times is difficult to answer specially if you  are talking to the person eye to eye and you have not yet really understood what he means.At first, Peter is not bothered by it, but when Jesus repeats it the second and third time, he  becomes nervous. Though he remains composed and a little bit changed because of the previous appearances of Jesus, he must handle the situation to the best of his ability and swift, in the hea­ring of his fellow apostles. Thus, Peter answers consistently in the affirmative. He is talking not anymore to Jesus who preached in Galilee and in Jerusalem, but to the Risen Lord  who has over­ come all oppositions and death.Jesus appreciates his answers and how he will end up loving him.The Risen Lord may be asking the same question to us. Do we, not just I, and my  family, my com­munity and my church love him? We show our love for Jesus by feeding the hungry and taking care of the poor and protecting their rights. There is no such thing as love
without service and justice.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2019

Gospel: John 17:20-26
I pray not only for these. but also for those who through their word will believe in me. May they all be one, as you Father are in me and I am in you. May they be one in us, so that the  world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory you have given me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. Thus they shall reach perfection in unity; and the world shall know that you have sent me, and that I have loved them, just as you loved me.Father, since you have given them to me, I want them to be with me where I am, and  see the glory you gave me, for you loved me before the foundation of the world.Righteous Father, the world has not known you, but I have known you, and these have known that you have sent  me. As I revealed your name to them, so will I continue to reveal it, so that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and I also may be in them.”

Reflections
“May they be one in us.”Jesus ends his priestly prayer praying also for other believers. He prays not only for his apostles but also other believers who do not belong to his inner circle.  He prays for the unity of all among themselves and their unity with God. When Christians are united with God in love and prayer, the world will believe that Jesus is truly sent by God.When  the Christians attain unity among themselves and with God, they will attain the highest form of unity, the per­fection in unity. Again, the effect is that the world will come  to believe that Jesus is sent by God. Since Jesus loves them so much, because they are res­ponding to his teachings, they are also entitled to see his glory in heaven.Unity for  us today is ex­pressed not in uniformity, but in recognition that others are different from us. Though others may have another culture, diffe­rent tastes and priorities, we can still be  united as humans and disciples under one God.The liturgy helps us to unite our hearts and minds to God and to one another. Praying to­gether can unite us also in times of grief and sorrow.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2019

Gospel: John 17:11b-19
Holy Father, keep those you have given me in your name, so that they may be one, as we also are.When I was with them, I kept them safe in your name; and not one was lost, except the one who was already lost, and in this, the Scripture was fulfilled. And now I come to you; in the world I speak these things, so that those whom you gave me, might have joy—all my joy within  themselves.I have given them your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world, I do not ask you to remove them from the world, but  to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth.I have sent them into the world as you sent me  into the world; and for their sake, I go to the sacrifice by which I am consecrated, so that they too may be consecrated in truth.

Reflections
“Keep them from the evil one.”Jesus continues his priestly prayer to the Father. He intercedes for the apostles’ safety. His prayer shows how valuable the apostles are because they have  been given to him as gifts by the Father. Weak as they are, he keeps and guards them as his own in the Father’s name so that no one falls away and is lost, except the one who betrays  him.Jesus also knows that his disciples are happy for him going to the Father and that they too may completely share in his joy in heaven.As he goes away, he will send them to face the  world that hates them. The world is anything that is hostile to Jesus and the apostles.Jesus asks the Father that they will be safe from the scheme of the evil one. They should not be led  to sin and betray him. They should not be misled to espousing worldly values, but the truth to which they have been consecrated.How do we pray? When we believe that other people close to  us are valuable gifts from God, we too will pray hard for their safety. We pray that they may be safe from danger and harm.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2019