Week 28 of the Church year
പെന്തിക്കോസ്തിക്കു മുമ്പുള്ള ഞായർ
On the night before he dies, Jesus prays aloud for his disciples. Then he prays for everyone who will believe through them, which includes every reader of this page.
Jesus prays to the Father for his disciples: that they may have his joy, be kept from evil while they remain in the world, and be made holy in the truth. Then he prays for all future believers, that they may be one and see his glory.
Between the Ascension and Pentecost the Church waits and prays. It reads Jesus’ own prayer for his Church, and also remembers the monks who give their lives to prayer.
Before he died, Jesus prayed for you by name in every way that mattered: “those who will believe in me through their word”.
ഈ ഞായറാഴ്ചയുടെ വായനകൾ
The rich young man; many who are first will be last.
Jesus looks at the rich man and loves him: go, sell, give, follow me.
The Sabbath year and the year of jubilee, when the land rests and all return home.
Be strong and courageous; the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
Sing, heavens, for the Lord has redeemed Jacob.
Paul stays with Philip the evangelist, whose four unmarried daughters prophesied.
Paul on marriage and the undivided devotion of the unmarried.
Jesus prays for his disciples and for all who will believe: that they may all be one. This is the Gospel of the day.
Open in five scenesLeviticus describes the Sabbath year when the land rests, and Joshua is told to be strong and courageous. Acts mentions Philip’s four daughters who prophesied. Paul writes about giving one’s life undivided to the Lord.
References follow the official lectionary of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. Your parish may read them in a different order.
Pick a scene to see what happens in it and what is easy to miss.
Now I am coming to you, Jesus prays, and I say these things so that they may have my joy complete in them. The world has hated them, because they are not of the world.
Jesus prays for joy on the night of his arrest. Joy is not the same as an easy life.
I do not ask you to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, as I am not.
Even the monks remembered today are not taken out of the world. They pray for it from inside.
Make them holy in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I send them. For them I sanctify myself.
“Sanctify” is the word at the root of Koodosh Eetho, the first Sunday of the year. The year that began with it now returns to it.
I pray not only for these, but for those who will believe through their word, that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, so the world may believe you sent me.
Jesus links unity directly with mission. A divided Church makes it harder for the world to believe.
Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, to see my glory. I have made your name known, so that the love you have for me may be in them.
The last thing Jesus asks for in this prayer is that the Father’s love may live in us.
The verse to keep
“നീ എന്നെ അയച്ചിരിക്കുന്നു എന്നു ലോകം വിശ്വസിപ്പാൻ അവർ എല്ലാവരും ഒന്നാകേണ്ടതിന്നു, പിതാവേ, നീ എന്നിലും ഞാൻ നിന്നിലും ആകുന്നതുപോലെ അവരും നമ്മിൽ ആകേണ്ടതിന്നു തന്നേ.”“that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me.”
Jesusയേശു
Praying aloud to the Father on the night before he dies.
“The Lord saves”
The disciplesശിഷ്യന്മാർ
Listening to Jesus pray for them.
“—”
Philip’s daughtersഫിലിപ്പൊസിന്റെ പുത്രിമാർ
Four unmarried daughters of Philip the evangelist who prophesied (Acts 21:9).
“—”
യേശു നമുക്കുവേണ്ടി പ്രാർത്ഥിക്കുന്നു
It is moving to overhear someone pray for you. A grandmother at night, a parent at a bedside, a friend in hospital. In John 17 we overhear Jesus praying, and at verse 20 he turns to us: not only for these, but for those who will believe through their word. That is every Christian since.
What does he ask for? Not that we be taken out of the world, but kept from evil within it. That we be made holy by the truth. That we be one, as he and the Father are one. That we see his glory and know the Father’s love. It is a prayer for a Church that is united, holy and full of love.
Our Church today is not always that. We know our divisions too well. But this prayer has not stopped. Between Ascension and Pentecost, the Church waits for the Spirit and prays with Jesus. It is a good week to pray for unity in our parish and our family, starting with one relationship that needs mending.
കുടുംബമായി സംസാരിക്കാം
Where do we need unity most right now: in our family, our parish, or our Church?
Two minutes after the audio. Everyone gets a turn, and nobody is interrupted.Pray for unity every evening until Pentecost, and take one step to mend a relationship that has cooled.
Holy Father, keep us in your name, as your Son prayed. Make us holy in your truth, make us one as you are one, and let your love live in us, so the world may believe. Amen.
The whole year
Every Sunday of the Church year, season by season: readings, the Gospel and a question for the family.
Sunday 7 of 7 in Kyomtho