Jn 17:11b-19 The Power Of One
“Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one.”
The world will become One with the Lord when it consecrates itself to His Love and Truth. Joined together, these two forces, of divine origin, form an unbreakable bond, a united front, a holy people, a people set apart. It is what divides and saves us from the Evil one, the prince of darkness and the father of lies. The line was drawn in the desert long ago and it is very thin!
“Holy Father...consecrate them in the truth.” If we were to be honest with one another, we would have to say that we spend a great deal of our time, our life, near the border - this line that separates us from the Only One and the evil one. We enjoy stepping in and out, occasionally crossing over and joining the enemy. How sad. How very sad for our Lord. There is so much more we could do if we would just consecrate ourselves to Him and never look back. How the Lord with all the angels and Saints would leap for joy if we would answer the Lord’s final prayer with a resounding YES!
St. Paul did and it bore tremendous fruit. His life is an eternal reminder that we can do it! Yes, I can give more! “You know well that these very hands have served...In every way I have shown you that by hard work of that sort we must help the weak, and keep in mind the words of the Lord Jesus who himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
Oh the power of one soul consecrated to the Lord! It is worth more than a thousand able bodied men! The world does not need thousands of helping hands; it needs only a few holy hands. We do not need a priest in every parish; we need holy priests in every parish. We did not need hundreds of popes to stop the protestant revolt within the Church; we needed a holy pope, popes like Blessed John Paul II or Benedict XVI, popes from Galilee. Your children, your spouse and your friends do not need more people like you, they need the real you, the holy version, the one created from above you, not from what is below you.
When St. Paul had finished speaking he knelt down and prayed with them all. They were all weeping loudly as they threw their arms around Paul and kissed him, for they were deeply distressed that he had said that they would never see his face again. Then they escorted him to the ship. (Acts 20:38)
Oh the power of one soul that is dedicated, consecrated and set apart from the rest. He is capable of kneeling in prayer, setting sail and never returning. We must also say that it is also strong enough to allow a loved one to do so.
Another life lived without regrets. Another life cut short. How do they all do it? They tell us: Consecrate yourself to the truth and to love! Give yourself to God for “it is blessed to give than to receive."
