In today's first reading, Acts 20: 28-38, Paul says to
the church of Ephesus and to us: "Keep watch over yourselves and over the whole
flock of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you overseers, in which you tend
the Church of God that he acquired with his own Blood. I know," Paul says to
us, "that after my departure savage wolves will come among you, and they will
not spare the flock.'" In today;s Gospel, John 17: 11b-19, Jesus begs His
Father, and ours, to "keep...[us] in...[His] name," to "keep...[us] from the
Evil One," and to "consecrate...[us] in the truth."
The Lord, through St.
Paul, is reminding us that, as Church, we are a garden purchased by Jesus'
Blood and by His surrendering His life to the Father even until death on a
cross. The Holy Spirit, Paul tells us in Acts 20: 28-38, has appointed each of
us as a gardener. We have been given the task of cultivating this sacred
garden, lovingly tending to it, nurturing it with love, purifying it with
forgiveness of self and others and by repentance of our sins, strengthening it
with the Word, the sacraments and prayer, and fertilizing it with obedience and
trust in our God, our Father, , as Jesus trusted the Father even to death, death
on a cross.
Knowing how difficult it would be for us to cultivate this
living garden of faith, Jesus, just before going to the Garden of Gethsemane to
surrender to his killers, prayed for us. He asked His Father to keep us in His
name and to keep us away from the Evil One, that is from "savage wolves" that
would enter the Garden of the Church, that is, that would descend upon our
lives. He also asked the Father to consecrate us in the truth, in the Word of
God. God the Father will not disappoint His Son. Every day He preserves us in
His name, guards us from falling into Satan's traps, and consecrates us in
truth!What an awesome God!
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