Reflection for May 24, Wednesday of the Seventh Week of Easter: John 17:11b-19

Gospel: John 17:11b-19

Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you, just as you gave him authority over all people, so that your son may give eternal life to all you gave him. Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.  

I glorified you on earth by accomplishing the work that you gave me to do. Now glorify me, Father, with you, with the glory that I had with you before the world began. “I revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 

Now they know that everything you gave me is from you, because the words you gave to me I have given to them, and they accepted them and truly understood that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me, because they are yours, and everything of mine is yours and everything of yours is mine, and I have been glorified in them. And now I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, while I am coming to you.”

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Reflection:

The story is told about a prayerful man but the irony of his being prayerful is his prayer would always be for himself alone.  

When he died the man was ushered by an angel to a room full of the things that he prayed for.   The man thanked the angel for giving him the things that he wanted. Then he noticed that he was alone, so he asked the angel: “Why am I alone? The angel told him, you’re alone because you would always pray for yourself only when you were still alive. You never bothered to pray for others, your prayers was always for yourself.   

As Jesus was set to leave HIS disciples he prayed for their welfare, that they would always be in God’s protection and care. How about us when we pray? Is it always us starring in our prayers? Or we never bother to pray for ourselves instead we pray for those we love and care. Because we believe that God knows everything about us including our needs.    

God is an all knowing God, He knows everything about us including our needs and prayers. Therefore, it would be better if instead of praying for ourselves we instead pray for others. This does not mean that we will not anymore have our own personal prayers and petitions before God.    

We would still have our prayers before God but we put forward first the interest and needs of others before our own. For God doesn’t want us to become persons for ourselves only; HE always wants us to become a person for others.   

Which kind of person are you a person for others or a person for yourself only? – Marino J. Dasmarinas