We are in the last few days of the Easter Season. In the gospel passage we see Jesus trying to make a very important point! UNITY! LOYALTY! FIDELITY TO HARD WORK! Just before he ascended into heaven he sent his apostles to Jerusalem to be quiet, to be attentive, to be prayerful – waiting for the coming of the promised gift of the Holy Spirit – he wanted to complete the course he was teaching them about unity, loyalty and fidelity to hard work!
To the day of his ascension, Jesus made every effort to make the twelve a real team! Three marks of a good team are UNITY, LOYALTY! FIDELITY TO HARD WORK! What sports team can be successful without these elements! It is also true of matters of faith! To be successful Jesus knew that his new community – his new presence in the world by means of a mystical body – would have to be headed up by a team of administrators who were totally on the same page that he was!
And so after instructing them, he finally prays for them, in a very moving and intimate way – to his heavenly Father. "Father, I pray for these! – that they may be a real team! So that we can dwell in them – and that the world can believe that I came from you! The inverse is true – the world will never come to belief in Jesus and his Father – unless the team and its leaders are UNITED to each other; LOYAL to each other; FAITHFUL to each other! Why would anyone want to belong to an organization which did not have these characteristics?
Twice in this gospel passage Jesus makes this same impassioned plea: be a team – so that we can convert the world!
In the first reading – as a real team player – Paul is inspired and protected by the Holy Spirit as he delivers the gospel message to the Gentiles. He is completing his work in Jerusalem and now it is apparent that he will be going to Rome to do the same! Without the assurance that came from God dwelling in him, and his incorporation into the mystical Body of Christ – with its unity, holiness, catholicity – his apostolic work would have been in vain!
We thank God for being our hope and keeping us safe – come what may! May we be one with God today – that the world may believe in Jesus and his Father!
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