Kept In The Heart Of Jesus

𝐌𝐀𝐘 𝟐𝟎, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔: 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐎𝐅 𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟏: 𝐀𝐜 𝟐𝟎:𝟐𝟖-𝟑𝟖

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟔𝟖:𝟐𝟗-𝟑𝟎, 𝟑𝟑-𝟑𝟔 “𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐆𝐨𝐝, 𝐎 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐉𝐍 𝟏𝟕:𝟏𝟏-𝟏𝟗

𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞: “𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡.” (𝐯.𝟏𝟗) 

Even at the point when death beckons, we whom God had created in his own image and likeness remain close to the heart of Jesus. This is evident in the prayer of Jesus especially the second part which (𝐯𝐯.𝟏𝟏-𝟏𝟗) is what we have for today’s Gospel reading.

            This passage also gives us a complete picture of why we were created in the first place and if we are going to tie this in with the Great Commission for Christians (𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝟐𝟖:𝟏𝟖-𝟐𝟎)  it would be easy for us to grasp what our mission in life is.

            It was very clear in this Gospel reading that even if Jesus was laying the groundwork for his eventual departure by his death on the cross his heart was filled with concern for his disciples.

Though he was not asking God: “𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝” (𝐯.𝟏𝟓)  which would have been the most convenient way for his disciples to escape the trials and persecution with Jesus asking the Father: “𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝐨𝐧𝐞.” (𝐯.𝟏𝟓)           

The prayer of Jesus in very clear terms shows us the depth of the love of Jesus for us: “𝐃𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐲 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞. 𝐈 𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭, 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝.” (𝐯.𝟏𝟐) This prayer indeed proves that anyone who has entered a relationship with Christ are kept out of harm’s way and that no one will be lost.

            This is what we see the Church doing through its many programs to evangelize and bring the Gospel of Christ to the people especially the unchurched. It is also by God’s Grace that numerous organizations have now stepped up in responding to the call of the Church to bring everyone back into the Christian faith.

            In his Motu Proprio for the creation of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, the late Pope Benedict XVI said: “𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘶𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵. 𝘏𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘳, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘈𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳: “𝘎𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘣𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵, 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶” (𝘔𝘵 28:19-20) 𝘍𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩—𝘢 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴 (𝘤𝘧. 1 𝘗𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳 2:9)—𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘧𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘗𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘴𝘵 (𝘤𝘧. 𝘈𝘤𝘵𝘴 2:14), 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵, 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 “𝘺𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳” (𝘏𝘦𝘣 13:8), 𝘸𝘩𝘰, 𝘣𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘭𝘥. 𝘏𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴, 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩: 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥; 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦.”          

The Church also exists to EVANGELIZE – the carrying forth of the Good News to every sector of the human race so that by its strength it may enter into the hearts of men and renew the human race. (Evangelii Nuntiandi No. 14, 18)

            To evangelize and bring the Gospel of Christ to others and into the world is our mandate as disciples and this should be the fruit of what Jesus told his disciples and which is now being passed on to us through the Scriptures and Traditions of the Church. “𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐣𝐨𝐲.” (𝐯.𝟏𝟑)                

Truly there is joy in serving our God, but we should not even for once assume that it will be a pleasurable ride because Jesus Himself warns that: “𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝, 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐈 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭.” (𝐯.𝟏𝟒)

The key to such immeasurable joy is to live in an intimate union with Christ because it is only when we do that, we will experience God’s special care and protection and savor the victory that God brings even in times when we are faced with defeat.

            The world will hate us because our Christian values differ from the values of the world. Christian disciples especially those who live under the banner of truth will always be subject to persecution and we are privy to these scenarios especially today when there is an absence of truth in the way people live.

            As we have said many times in the past, membership in a Christian organization do not a Christian make which means that going to Mass and or Prayer Meetings will not get you to heaven if you live a dichotomous life.

People who do are everywhere and we could be standing right next to an agent of destruction which is why it is relatively important that we immerse ourselves in the Word of God (𝐇𝐞𝐛 𝟒:𝟏𝟐).

            A daily application of God’s Word has a purifying effect not only on our minds but in our hearts as well and this is what Jesus prayed to God to: “𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡.” (𝐯.𝟏𝟕) which again means that as His Word points out the sins we have committed, we have a duty to confess these sins so we can constantly renew our relationship with Christ.

            What we actually see in this prayer of Jesus Christ are three things: Jesus prayed that we may all be united with one another and with God (𝐯.𝟏𝟏); He prayed that we may be protected from the evil one (𝐯.𝟏𝟓), and; Jesus prayed that we may be purified and become holy by the Word of God in us (𝐯.𝟏𝟕).

         Knowing that Jesus keeps us in his heart and is praying for us should give us confidence as we work to bring His Gospel to the ends of the earth. It is when we give God the glory through the work of our hands that we too are glorified in Him when Christ in our lives appear. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 - 𝘔𝘢𝘺 20, 2026)