Homily for St. John of the Cross - 2018
By Bishop Thomas Zinkula
Carmelite Monastery
Context
This Gospel passage is Jesus' prayer to his Father on the eve of his death
It is not Jesus speaking to his disciples ... it is instead his words offered to God in prayer ...
the community is spoken of only in the third person
The role of the disciples and those who read this Gospel passage is to overhear, to listen in on,
Jesus' conversation with his Father
Content
Jesus speaks to God on behalf of the faith community
Instead of entrusting the community's future to themselves, he entrusts their future to God
Jesus' final words before his death are not last-minute instructions to the community about what it
should do in Jesus' absence ... instead, he turns the future of the community over to God
Consequences
The life, mission & future of this Carmelite community ... the life, mission & future of the Davenport
diocesan community ... and the life, mission & future of the universal church community
rests in & depends on God's care
Jesus places it in the hands of God
We need to do our best to discern & cooperate with God's will
But our life, mission & future ultimately doesn't depend on our own work ... it lies instead with God
Challenge
It is vitally important that all believers hear & experience the love that Jesus & his Father have for us
It is critical that we always remember that Jesus hands those whom he loves over to God
& that we are the recipients of Jesus' prayer
Conjecture
I wonder how our understanding of who we are & what we are to do would change if we believed,
pondered, and embraced the notion that we are a community for whom Jesus prays?
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