We Are Children of the Light and the Truth

Deacon Les
Homily

WEDNESDAY OF THE SEVENTH WEEK OF EASTER (C)
19 MAY 2010

Acts 20 : 28 - 38

[Acts 20:28] 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.
[Acts 20:29] I know that after my departure savage wolves will come among you, and they will not spare the flock.
[Acts 20:30] And from your own group, men will come forward perverting the truth to draw the disciples away after them.
[Acts 20:31] So be vigilant and remember that for three years, night and day, I unceasingly admonished each of you with tears.
[Acts 20:32] And now I commend you to God and to that gracious word of his that can build you up and give you the inheritance among all who are consecrated.
[Acts 20:33] I have never wanted anyone's silver or gold or clothing.
[Acts 20:34] You know well that these very hands have served my needs and my companions.
[Acts 20:35] In every way I have shown you that by hard work of that sort we must help the weak, and keep in mind the words of the Lord Jesus who himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"
[Acts 20:36] When he had finished speaking he knelt down and prayed with them all.
[Acts 20:37] They were all weeping loudly as they threw their arms around Paul and kissed him,
[Acts 20:38] for they were deeply distressed that he had said that they would never see his face again. Then they escorted him to the ship.

John 17: 11 - 19

[John 17:11] And now I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, while I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are.
[John 17:12] When I was with them I protected them in your name that you gave me, and I guarded them, and none of them was lost except the son of perdition, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled.
[John 17:13] But now I am coming to you. I speak this in the world so that they may share my joy completely.
[John 17:14] I gave them your word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world.
[John 17:15] I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the evil one.
[John 17:16] They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world.
[John 17:17] Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth.
[John 17:18] As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world.
[John 17:19] And I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth.





In today’s Gospel, Our Lord prays to His Heavenly Father for his apostles and His other disciples. Jesus emphasizes two realities as He prepares to undergo His passion and death, His resurrection, the details of the Church which He is founding, His ascension, and His sending forth the Holy Spirit.

1. Jesus is sending His disciples into the world as His Heavenly Father sent Him into the world. He does not pray that they be taken from the world, but that they be kept from the evil one. Satan, although utterly defeated, remains the prince of the unredeemed world, and will do so until the end of time.

2. Jesus prays that His disciples be consecrated in truth.

They, the nascent church and we, the maturing church, are to be the prolongation of Jesus’ presence on earth by sanctifying the world. Their and our witness to the truth is to cause an ongoing diminution in the unredeemed world of the usurper. Satan is the father of lies. Our Heavenly Father is the Father of Truth, and that Truth is His Eternal Word, Jesus Christ. Our witness to the Eternal Truth, the Word of God, is empowered by the Holy Spirit acting in us in much the same way that He acted in Jesus during Jesus’ public ministry.

Here is the true meaning of the “priesthood of the laity”. This priesthood is not manifested primarily in there being lectors and extraordinary ministers of communion. Its principal manifestation is involved in the sanctifying of the world, and indeed of all creation. As St Paul says

[Rom 8:19] ...creation awaits with eager expectation the revelation of the children of God;
[Rom 8:20] for creation was made subject to futility, not of its own accord but because of the one who subjected it...
[Rom 8:21] (We hope) that creation itself would be set free from slavery to corruption and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God.

Just how do we sanctify creation? We do so both proactively and reactively.

Proactively, we establish a relation with every creature, animate and inanimate, with which we come into contact as we progress in our state of life, which is conducive to our salvation, the edification of our neighbor, and the glorification of God.

Reactively, we avoid any relation with any creature which would hinder our salvation, disedify our neighbor, or not glorify God.

Enemies of the truth are all around us. Their enmity is usually not based on some misuse of intellect, the perfection of which is to know the truth, but more often on a hatred of the truth itself, which shines a glaring light on their wicked deeds. As St Paul says in Romans 1:

[Rom 1:18] The wrath of God is indeed being revealed from heaven against every impiety and wickedness of those who suppress the truth by their wickedness.
...
[Rom 1:24] Therefore, God handed them over to impurity through the lusts of their hearts for the mutual degradation of their bodies.
[Rom 1:25] They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and revered and worshiped the creature rather than the creator...
...
[Rom 1:29] They are filled with every form of wickedness...
[Rom 1:32] Although they know the just decree of God that all who practice such things deserve death, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

We are children of the light and the truth. Let us manifest this in our daily lives by unflinching witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, whether convenient or inconvenient. In everything we do, let our chief aim not ever be the approval of sinful men, but always be the approval of Our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ. We witness now to Him with Whom it is our highest hope to dwell throughout all eternity.