The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to scenes of farewell and separation through which we can contemplate our role to continue to be agents of truth and love.
Truth and love in separation
The reading from the Acts of the Apostles includes the proclamation of Paul that “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
* [20:16–35] Apparently aware of difficulties at Ephesus and neighboring areas, Paul calls the presbyters together at Miletus, about thirty miles from Ephesus. He reminds them of his dedication to the gospel (Acts 20:18–21), speaks of what he is about to suffer for the gospel (Acts 20:22–27), and admonishes them to guard the community against false prophets, sure to arise upon his departure (Acts 20:28–31). He concludes by citing a saying of Jesus (Acts 20:35) not recorded in the gospel tradition. Luke presents this farewell to the Ephesian presbyters as Paul’s last will and testament.1
Psalm 68 offers praise and thanksgiving to God.
* [Psalm 68] The Psalm is extremely difficult because the Hebrew text is badly preserved and the ceremony that it describes is uncertain. The translation assumes the Psalm accompanied the early autumn Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkoth), which included a procession of the tribes (Ps 68:25–28). Israel was being oppressed by a foreign power, perhaps Egypt (Ps 68:31–32)—unless Egypt stands for any oppressor. The Psalm may have been composed from segments of ancient poems, which would explain why the transitions are implied rather than explicitly stated. At any rate, Ps 68:2 is based on Nm 10:35–36, and Ps 68:8–9 are derived from Jgs 5:4–5. The argument develops in nine stanzas (each of three to five poetic lines): 1. confidence that God will destroy Israel’s enemies (Ps 68:2–4); 2. call to praise God as savior (Ps 68:5–7); 3. God’s initial rescue of Israel from Egypt (Ps 68:8), the Sinai encounter (Ps 68:9), and the settlement in Canaan (Ps 68:10–11); 4. the defeat of the Canaanite kings (Ps 68:12–15); 5. the taking of Jerusalem, where Israel’s God will rule the world (Ps 68:16–19); 6. praise for God’s past help and for the future interventions that will be modeled on the ancient exodus-conquest (Ps 68:20–24); 7. procession at the Feast of Tabernacles (Ps 68:25–28); 8. prayer that the defeated enemies bring tribute to the Temple (Ps 68:29–32); 9. invitation for all kingdoms to praise Israel’s God (Ps 68:33–35).2
In the Last Supper Discourse from the Gospel of John, Jesus prays to the father to “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.”
* [17:15] Note the resemblance to the petition of the Lord’s Prayer, “deliver us from the evil one.” Both probably refer to the devil rather than to abstract evil.3
Dennis Hamm, S.J. asks what do these two fragments of farewell addresses have to do with our special human relationships that are so dramatically highlighted by our own personal good-byes at the end of the academic year here at a Jesuit campus in Omaha, Nebraska?
I’d love to share with you how we were really talking about knowing and following Jesus, and how we are both instinctively drawn to different ways of living out that essential Christian call. It is true that I have been trained to be mindful of the presence of God as a goal, but of course, like you, I need to focus more narrowly on what I’m doing when I’m studying, teaching writing, and listening to others for the possible wisdom of their point of view. Just as we were doing when you were playing Lear and I was playing Edgar back then. But, if you still call yourself Christian, haven’t you found that you have needed to take time out, almost daily, to “raise your mind and heart to God” as our catechism taught us. Have you read the Gospel of John recently? I you haven’t, try it. And use a Catholic version with decent notes. When you get to today’s Liturgical gospel selection, notice how John has Jesus speaking his farewell in much the same way he does throughout the whole Fourth Gospel — that is, with some language sounding like he is looking ahead to his death, and other phrases sound like he is has already been raised from the dead and addressing the “disciples” (those listening at the supper, and their successors (John’s audience, and 2000 years later, us, us trying to be followers of Jesus as our risen Lord in the twenty-first century).4
Don Schwager quotes “The Bond of Christian Unity in Love,” by Cyril of Alexandria, 375-444 A.D.
"Christ wishes the disciples to be kept in a state of unity by maintaining a like-mindedness and an identity of will, being mingled together as it were in soul and spirit and in the law of peace and love for one another. He wishes them to be bound together tightly with an unbreakable bond of love, that they may advance to such a degree of unity that their freely chosen association might even become an image of the natural unity that is conceived to exist between the Father and the Son. That is to say, he wishes them to enjoy a unity that is inseparable and indestructible, which may not be enticed away into a dissimilarity of wills by anything at all that exists in the world or any pursuit of pleasure, but rather reserves the power of love in the unity of devotion and holiness. And this is what happened. For as we read in the Acts of the Apostles, 'the company of those who believed were of one heart and soul' (Acts 4:32), that is, in the unity of the Spirit. This is also what Paul himself meant when he said 'one body and one Spirit' (Ephesians 4:4). 'We who are many are one body in Christ for we all partake of the one bread' (1 Corinthians 10:17; Romans 12:5), and we have all been anointed in the one Spirit, the Spirit of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13)." (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 11.9.18)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on John 17:11-19 comments that in the upper room, Jesus prayed “that they may be one” (John 17:11). He saw that the disciples’ unity would face serious threats after he was gone. He knew that his arrest would cause them to scatter but that his appearance to them on Easter Sunday would bring them together again. He knew that the Holy Spirit would fall on them and move them to band together as the Church, but he also knew that disputes would occasionally break out amongst them. They would need to work hard to preserve their unity. It wouldn’t be easy, so he prayed for them.
Even today, two thousand years later, we remain one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. Still, there is disunity among believers, and we need to keep working to overcome it. How can we advance the cause of healing and unity within the body of Christ? By making Jesus’ prayer our own. Let’s take the Church into our hearts today by praying for one another—even those who are very different from us. May we all pursue unity in our diversity! “Father, pour out your Holy Spirit on us; make us one.”6
Friar Jude Winkler notes the meeting at Miletus commends the elders to be good overseers as presbyters and episcopate. The tripartite division of bishop, priest and deacon is not recorded until the 2nd century. Friar Jude notes that Paul was distancing himself from the Sophists who were paid to preach.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, quotes Viktor Frankl: “ Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” He developed this wisdom during his time as an inmate in Auschwitz.
The way in which a person accepts their fate and all the suffering it entails, the way in which they take up their cross, gives them ample opportunity—even under the most difficult circumstances—to add a deeper meaning to their life. It may remain brave, dignified and unselfish. Or in the bitter fight for self-preservation they may forget their human dignity and become no more than an animal. Here lies the chance for a person either to make use of or to forgo the opportunities of attaining the moral values that a difficult situation may afford them. . . . When we are no longer able to change a situation . . . we are challenged to change ourselves.7
Our transformation by the Holy Spirit is evidenced in our increasing patience to replace our own ego with truth and love we can share with others.
References
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