Mark 17:11b-19 – 7th Sunday of Easter
In today’s Gospel Jesus is concerned about his apostles. Jesus realizes that soon He will be leaving them. He loves his disciples deeply and He wants to do all He can to ensure their safety and protection. Thus Jesus prays to His Father and asks God to keep His loved ones “in your name.” Jesus hopes and prays that the disciples and God “will be one, just as He and God are one.” Jesus also prays for their protection and He asks that they may share His joy.
Jesus asks God to protect the disciples as He protected them. Jesus did not want any of his disciples to be lost. Jesus had been with these men for three years. They had lived closely together, argued with each other, laughed and enjoyed one another and had come to love one another. The disciples truly had become a family and Jesus wanted to be sure that his family would be protected from any harm and from “being lost to the evil one.”
Think about your family for a moment. If you were seriously ill and knew you soon would be leaving them, what would be your hopes and wishes for them? I am sure you would do all you could to protect and prepare them as best you could. What would you say to your loved ones? What are the values and truths that you hope will be your greatest legacy to your family and loved ones? Do you know what the three most important values are for you? Hopefully faith and trust in God is one of those values you hope to pass on to all those you love. We share our most important values every single day. We live them out each and every day in our actions, choices and behaviors. And if we truly live our values, our loved ones and friends already know what is most important to us.
Today may be a good day to ask ourselves: what are the values I strive to live out every day of my life? Take some time today and reflect on this question. And be open to your inner response. You may be surprised by what you find out about yourself!
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