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From: Acts 20:28-38

Speech of Farewell to the Elders of Ephesus (Continuation)

(Paul said to the elders of the church,) [28] “Take heed to yourselves and to all
the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you guardians, to feed the church of
the Lord which he obtained with his own blood. [29] I know that after my departure
fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; [30] and from among
your own selves will arise men speaking perverse things, to draw away the disci-
ples after them. [31] Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not
cease night or day to admonish every one with tears. [32] And now I commend
you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give
you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. [33] I coveted no one’s
silver or gold or apparel. [34] You yourselves know that these hands ministered
to my necessities, and to those who were with me. [35] In all things I have shown
you that by so toiling one must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord
Jesus, how he said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

[36] And when he had spoken thus, he knelt down and prayed with them all. [37]
And they all wept and embraced Paul and kissed him, [38] sorrowing most of all
because of the word he had spoken, that they should see his face no more. And
they brought him to the ship.

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Commentary:

28. Using a metaphor often found in the New Testament to describe the people of
God (Ps 100:3; Is 40:11; Jer 13:17), Paul describes the Church as a flock and its
guardians or bishops (”episcopos”) as shepherds. “The Church is a sheepfold, the
sole and necessary gateway to which is Christ (Jn 10:1-10). It is also a flock, of
which God foretold that he would himself be the shepherd (cf. Is 40:11; Ex 34:11f),
and whose sheep, although watched over by human shepherds, are nevertheless
at all times led and brought to pasture by Christ himself, the Good Shepherd and
prince of shepherds (cf. Jn 10:11; l Pet 5:4), who gave his life for his sheep (cf. Jn
10:11-16)” (Vatican II, “Lumen Gentium”, 6).

In the early days of the Church the terms “priest” and “bishop” had not yet be-
come defined: they both refer to sacred ministers who have received the sacra-
ment of priestly Order.

The last part of the verse refers to Christ’s sacrifice: through his redeeming action,
the Church has become God’s special property. The price of Redemption was the
blood of Christ. Paul VI says that Christ, the Lamb of God, took to “himself the
sins of the world, and he died for us, nailed to the Cross, saving us by his redee-
ming blood” (”Creed of the People of God”, 12).

The Council of Trent speaks of this when it presents the Redemption as an act
of “his beloved Only-begotten, our Lord Jesus Christ, who...merited justification
for us by his most holy Passion on the wood of the Cross and made satisfaction
for us to God the Father” (”De Iustificatione”, 7).

30. Errors derive not only from outsiders: they are also the product of members of
the Church who abuse their position as brethren and even as pastors, leading the
people astray by taking advantage of their good will. “It is of this that John writes,
‘They went out from us, but they were not of us’ [1 Jn 2:19]” (St Bede, “Super Act
Expositio, ad loc”.).

31. “Here he shows that he actually taught them and did not proclaim the tea-
ching once only, just to ease his conscience” (Chrysostom, “Hom. on Acts”, 44).
Paul did not avoid the pastoral work which fell to him; he set an example of what
a bishop should be. “Those who rule the community must perform worthily the
tasks of government. [...] There is a danger that some who concern themselves
with others and guide them towards eternal life may ruin themselves without rea-
lizing it. Those who are in charge must work harder than others, must be humbler
than those under them, must in their own lives give an example of service, and
must regard their subjects as a deposit which God has given them in trust” (St
Gregory of Nyssa, “De Instituto Christiano”).

32. “It is not right for Christians to give such importance to human action that
they think all the laurels depend on their efforts: their expectation of reward
should be subject to the will of God” (”ibid”.).

33-35. “The teachings of the Apostle of the Gentiles [...] have key importance for
the morality and spirituality of human work. They are an important complement
to the great though discreet gospel of work that we find in the life and parables
of Christ, in what Jesus ‘did and taught’ “ (Bl. John Paul II, “Laborem Exercens”,
26).

This saying of our Lord (v. 35) is not recorded in the Gospels.

36. For Christians every situation is suitable for prayer: “The Christian prays every-
where”, Clement of Alexandria writes, “and in every situation, whether it be when
taking a walk or in the company of friends, or while he is resting, or at the start of
some spiritual work. And when he reflects in the interior of his soul and invokes
the Father with unspeakable groanings” (”Stromata”, VII, 7).

37. They kiss Paul to show their affection for him and how moved they are. This is
not the liturgical “kiss of peace”. In the East kisses are a common expression of
friendship and good manners like handshaking in the West.

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: John 17:11b-19

The Priestly Prayer of Jesus (Continuation)

(Jesus lifted his eyes to heaven and said, ) [11b] “Holy Father, keep them in thy
name, which thou has given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. [12]
While I was with them, I kept them in thy name, which thou hast given me; I have
guarded them, and none of them is lost but the son of perdition, that the scripture
might be fulfilled. [13] But now I am coming to thee; and these things I speak in
the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. [14] I have given them
thy word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world. [15] I
do not pray that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou shouldst
keep them from the evil one. [16] They are not of the world, even as I am not of
the world. [17] Sanctify them in the truth; thy word is truth. [18] As thou didst
send me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. [19] And for their
sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be consecrated in truth.

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Commentary:

11-19. Jesus now asks the Father to give his disciples four things—unity, perse-
verance, joy and holiness. By praying him to keep them in his name (v. 11) he
is asking for their perseverance in the teaching he has given them (cf. v. 6) and
in communion with him. An immediate consequence of this perseverance is uni-
ty: “that they may be one, even as we are one”; this unity which he asks for his
disciples is a reflection of the unity of the three divine Persons.

He also prays that none of them should be lost, that the Father should guard
and protect them, just as he himself protected them while he was still with them.
Thirdly, as a result of their union with God and perseverance they will share in the
joy of Christ (v. 13): in this life, the more we know God and the more closely we
are joined to him, the happier will we be; in eternal life our joy will be complete,
because our knowledge and love of God will have reached its climax.

Finally, he prays for those who, though living in the world, are not of the world,
that they may be truly holy and carry out the mission he has entrusted to them,
just as he did the work his Father gave him to do.

12. “That the scripture might be fulfilled”: this is an allusion to what he said to
the Apostles a little earlier (Jn 13:18) by directly quoting Scripture: “He who ate
my bread has lifted his heel against me” (Ps 41:10). Jesus makes these referen-
ces to Judas’ treachery in order to strengthen the Apostles’ faith by showing that
he knew everything in advance and that the Scriptures had already foretold what
would happen.

However, Judas went astray through his own fault and not because God arranged
things that way; his treachery had been taking shape little by little, through his
petty infidelities, and despite our Lord helping him to repent and get back on the
right road (cf. note on Jn 13:21-32); Judas did not respond to this grace and was
responsible for his own downfall. God, who sees the future, predicted the treache-
ry of Judas in the Scripture; Christ, being God, knew that Judas would betray him
and it is with immense sorrow that he now tells the Apostles.

14-16. In Sacred Scripture “world” has a number of meanings. First, it means the
whole of creation (Gen 1:1ff) and, within creation, mankind, which God loves most
tenderly (Prov 8:31). This is the meaning intended here when our Lord says, “I do
not pray that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou shouldst keep
them from the evil one” (v. 15). “I have taught this constantly using words from holy
Scripture. The world is not evil, because it has come from God’s hands, because
it is his creation, because Yahweh looked upon it and saw that it was good (cf.
Gen 1:7ff). We ourselves, mankind, make it evil and ugly with our sins and infideli-
ties. Have no doubt: any kind of evasion from the honest realities of daily life is for
you, men and women of the world, something opposed to the will of God” (St. J.
Escriva, “Conversations”, 114).

In the second place, “world” refers to the things of this world, which do not last
and which can be at odds with the things of the spirit (cf. Mt 16:26).

Finally, because evil men have been enslaved by sin and by the devil, “the ruler
of the world” (Jn 12:31; 16:11), the “world” sometimes means God’s enemy, some-
thing opposed to Christ and his followers (Jn 1:10). In this sense the “world” is evil,
and therefore Jesus is not of the world, nor are his disciples (v. 16). It is also this
pejorative meaning which is used by traditional teaching which describes the world,
the flesh and the devil as enemies of the soul against which one has to be forever
vigilant. “The world, the flesh and the devil are a band of adventurers who take ad-
vantage of the weakness of that savage you bear within you, and want you to hand
over to them, in exchange for the glittering tinsel of a pleasure —which is worth no-
thing — the pure gold and the pearls and the diamonds and rubies drenched in the
life-blood of your God-Redeemer, which are the price and the treasure of your eter-
nity” (St. J. Escriva, “The Way”, 708).

17-19. Jesus prays for the holiness of his disciples. God alone is the Holy One;
in his holiness people and things share. “Sanctifying” has to do with consecra-
ting and dedicating something to God, excluding it from being used for profane
purposes; thus God says to Jeremiah: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew
you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to
the nations” (Jer 1:5). If something is to be consecrated to God it must be per-
fect, that is, holy. Hence, a consecrated person needs to have moral sanctity,
needs to be practising the moral virtues. Our Lord here asks for both things for
his disciples, because they need them if they are to fulfill their supernatural mis-
sion in the world.

“For their sake I consecrate myself”: these words mean that Jesus Christ, who
has been burdened with the sins of men, consecrates himself to the Father
through his sacrifice on the Cross. By this are all Christians sanctified: “So Je-
sus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his
own blood” (Heb 13:12). So, after Christ’s death, men have been made sons of
God by Baptism, sharers in the divine nature and enabled to attain the holiness
to which they have been called (cf. Vatican II, “Lumen Gentium”, 40).

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.