GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to John 17:11b-19

Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed, saying:

“Holy Father, keep them in your name

that you have given me,

so that they may be one just as we are one.

When I was with them I protected them in your name that you gave me,

and I guarded them, and none of them was lost

except the son of destruction,

in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

But now I am coming to you.

I speak this in the world

so that they may share my joy completely.

I gave them your word, and the world hated them,

because they do not belong to the world

any more than I belong to the world.

I do not ask that you take them out of the world

but that you keep them from the Evil One.

They do not belong to the world

any more than I belong to the world.

Consecrate them in the truth.

Your word is truth.

As you sent me into the world,

so I sent them into the world.

And I consecrate myself for them,

so that they also may be consecrated in truth.”

The Word of the Lord

 

The Invisible Enemy

It is moving to hear Jesus speak with the Father, and even more moving to discover that we are the reason for His prayer. Jesus prays just before going to Gethsemane, and it is striking to contemplate how, at such a moment, He does not think of Himself but of His disciples. And among them are also we ourselves, our marriages, our families…

In an individualistic world, full of attractions that scatter and divide the human heart between God and the things of the world, Jesus asks the Father for this gift for us: “that they may be one.” This is the great longing of the Heart of Jesus. And it is also our desire: to live united to the Lord. In marriage, that unity involves becoming one with our spouse. But what prevents it? Self‑love. That great invisible enemy that divides, hardens the heart, and makes communion difficult. There lies the battle — against myself.

Guard us, Lord, from this evil; may I stop looking so much at myself and learn to protect and support my spouse so that we may walk together towards You. Thank you, Lord, for this beautiful vocation, in which I am united to You through union with my spouse. And when together we live united to Christ, we can remain in the midst of the world… without losing our soul.

Applied to married life

Beatriz: Charles… do you realise we’ve spent forty minutes arguing about which series to watch?

Charles: It’s because the ones you choose are painfully slow.

Beatriz: Well, and you only ever want explosions and car chases.

(The argument escalates, and their hearts end up distant.)

Charles: Wait… Bea, in the end what’s pushed us apart isn’t the series — it’s our self‑love, wanting to impose our own way… We started with something silly, but look how we’ve ended up.

Beatriz: True. We’re always trying to impose our own will.

Charles: That famous self‑love always shows up… “My plan is better”, “I’m right”, “Why should I be the one to give in”… Me, me, me, me…

Beatriz: And while we’re fighting over a series… Jesus is praying to the Father that we may be one. The Lord has such patience with us.

Charles: Right then, here’s my proposal: you choose the series, and I’ll offer up my renunciation… for the sake of our communion.

Beatriz: (laughing) A martyr of conjugal love!

Charles: Well… one step at a time. Holiness begins with forty‑minute episodes, hahaha…

 

Mother,

Teach us that our unity so often begins with small daily acts of self‑denial. Help us in this battle, so that our unity may speak to the world of the love of Christ.

Blessed be the Lord!

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to John 17:1-11a

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.”

The word of the Lord

 

Everything of mine is yours?

Jesus, lifting His eyes to heaven, says to the Father: “All that is mine is yours, and all that is yours is mine.” Jesus reveals to us, and draws us into, the mystery of His communion of love with the Father in the Holy Spirit. In God nothing is held back, nothing is reserved; everything is gift, communion, and total self‑giving. This is how God loves. And in His creative design, God instituted marriage so that it might be the visible sign of this invisible love.

This is why spouses are called, in the image of Trinitarian love, to say to one another truthfully and as Christ does: “All that is mine is yours, and all that is yours is mine.” Not only with words, but by making it life: my time is yours, my body is yours, my talents are yours, my money, my plans, my weariness, my joys, my future — even my wounds — because I no longer belong to myself. “I give myself to you…” May our words not be carried away by the wind. May we fulfil that promise in its fullness. For conjugal love is not simply a harmonious coexistence, but the total gift of oneself in the image of God.

Applied to married life

Martha and Jon share a joint account as well as personal ones. One day, Jon made some purchases using the joint account, and Martha reproached him, saying that those things should have been paid with his own money, not with the money belonging to both of them.

Martha: Jon, I don’t understand why the whole money thing upset you so much. You’ve been a bit sensitive about this lately.

Jon: It’s not just the money, Martha… It’s that I feel as though each of us still has “our own life”. Your things–my things, your decisions–my decisions, your car–my car… I don’t know, Martha. As we go through the catechesis, I see more clearly that we need to make some decisions. Don’t you think so too?

Martha: Well, Jon, I won’t deny that every time we hear the message about how to build a marriage, things come to mind that we need to change if we want to live what we experienced on the retreat. But to be honest, I end up looking the other way.

Jon: I’ve done that for a long time too, but this morning, during prayer, a phrase from Jesus came to me: “All that is mine is yours, and all that is yours is mine.” And I’m certain the Lord is calling us to that. We want a marriage in communion… but without giving everything. Not just money, of course — we don’t give our way of raising the children, or how we organise the house… so many things.

Martha: I think the devil really does tempt me a lot, Jon. He makes me think that if I give myself completely, I’ll end up losing out… and then I complain that we’re not fully united.

Jon: Exactly, Martha. We want communion, but without putting everything on the line. We give ourselves halfway, and with lots of conditions.

Martha: Oh Jon… we’ve got so much to do… it makes me feel dizzy.

Jon: To begin with, the first thing is to make the decision to do it. But Martha, even though I know it will be hard for me, I want to be able to look you in the eyes and say: “All that is mine is yours, and all that is yours is mine.”

Yet man, wounded by sin, tends to keep for himself treasures he is unwilling to share: his intimacy, his money, his time; at most he gives a part and keeps another back, thereby breaking the sacramental sign and weakening communion. Perhaps today the Holy Spirit is showing us precisely this: which part of ourselves we still refuse to give. For He can only unite what we offer.

Ask yourself with sincerity and courage: can I say to my spouse today, “All that is mine is yours, and all that is yours is mine”? If we have not yet reached that point, let us ask the Holy Spirit for the grace to give ourselves completely as Christ does — the whole of ourselves, in order to receive the whole — so that our marriage may glorify the Father, showing the world how God loves.

 

 

Mother,

Teach us to be a faithful reflection of God’s love, as you are. Blessed be the Lord!

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to John 16:29-33

The disciples said to Jesus,

“Now you are talking plainly, and not in any figure of speech.

Now we realize that you know everything

and that you do not need to have anyone question you.

Because of this we believe that you came from God.”

Jesus answered them, “Do you believe now?

Behold, the hour is coming and has arrived

when each of you will be scattered to his own home

and you will leave me alone.

But I am not alone, because the Father is with me.

I have told you this so that you might have peace in me.

In the world you will have trouble,

but take courage, I have conquered the world.”

The word of the Lord

 

We Have Already Overcome

We all know what it is to struggle in life; Jesus has already assured us of this, so let us not mistake who the real enemy is. This battle must be against the world, the devil, and the flesh — not against our spouse. Such situations place us in a state of alertness that even has a chemical effect on our bodies. What we must decide is where we turn in order to find peace.

Jesus tells us that we will only find Peace in Him, because He has already overcome the world. In our marriage, this “world” takes shape in selfishness, the desire to dominate… Yet with the grace of our sacrament, we can overcome everything that separates us from the Plan God has prepared for us. We are called to remain continually in Him, in His heart

Applied to Married Life

Peter: Laura, this morning I felt awful, because yesterday I really messed up — quite badly — in the management of a project… and I started getting overwhelmed thinking about the consequences. I began to fear losing my job, to feel ashamed about how I might look. I could feel all of this physically inside me, and I even had the temptation to blame you somehow.

Laura: Yes, I noticed. You were even distancing yourself from me and the girls. You seemed to be in another world — you couldn’t sit still or focus. But I can see you’re better now.

Peter: Well, it was such a blessing that this afternoon was the parish’s time of adoration. Before the Lord, I felt all the darkness fade away and a deep trust in God fill me.

Laura: How beautiful, Peter. Being before the monstrance is the best medicine for freeing our soul from everything that weighs it down.

Peter: Yes, but unfortunately we can’t always be in adoration.

Laura: Oh Peter, cheer up! We are temples of the Holy Spirit, and we can turn to His heart at every moment.

Mother,

May we, in the daily struggle we face, take refuge in the Heart of Jesus to find Peace. Blessed be God!

Gospel

Gospel