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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