This morning Robert picked us up at the mailbox as usual and right on time. Sister Mary Claire, Mini, and I were all ready for the ride to St. Mary’s.
The fields looked fresh and green as we drove along the gravel road. The morning was quiet, and I kept thinking about today’s Gospel from St. John. It was the beautiful prayer of Jesus, when He raised His eyes to Heaven and spoke to His Father.
At Mass, Father LeRoy explained that this Gospel lets us listen to the prayer of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. He said Jesus was close to His suffering, but He was not thinking only about Himself. He was thinking about the ones the Father had given Him. He was praying for His disciples.
Father LeRoy said, “Jesus prayed for His disciples, and He still prays for those who belong to Him.” That made me feel deeply loved, and also very safe. It is a wonderful thing to think that Jesus knows us, loves us, and prays for us.
Then Father LeRoy explained the words, “Now this is eternal life, that they should know You, the only true God, and the one whom You sent, Jesus Christ.” He said eternal life is not only something far away in Heaven. It begins in the soul when we begin to know and love God. Every prayer, every Mass, every Gospel reading, and every little act of obedience helps us know Him more.
Father LeRoy also said that Jesus glorified the Father by finishing the work He was given to do. That made me think about our own daily duties. God gives each person work to do. Some work looks important, and some work looks very small, but if it is done for God, it matters. Helping Sister Mary Claire, caring for Mini, doing my chores, listening carefully at Mass, and trying to be good are all little works I can offer to Jesus.
On the ride home, Robert said he liked the part where Jesus said, “I pray for them.” Sister Mary Claire said those words are like a warm shelter for the soul. Mini sat close, and the road home seemed peaceful.
Tonight I am glad that Jesus prayed for His disciples before He went to the Father. I am glad He does not forget us while we are still in the world. I want to belong to Him more and more, and I want to keep His word like His disciples did.
Evening Prayer
Dear Jesus, thank You for praying for us. Help me know You better, love You more, and do the little work You give me each day. Keep Sister Mary Claire, Robert, Mini, and me close to Your Sacred Heart. Amen.
Love,
Kathy
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A reading from the holy Gospel according to John 17:1-11a
Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you, just as you gave him authority over all people, so that your son may give eternal life to all you gave him.
Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.
I glorified you on earth by accomplishing the work that you gave me to do.
Now glorify me, Father, with you, with the glory that I had with you before the world began.
“I revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.
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. I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me, because they are yours, and everything of mine is yours and everything of yours is mine, and I have been glorified in them.
And now I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, while I am coming to you.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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