Thursday of the 7th week of Easter
Acts 22: 30; 23: 6-11 John 17: 20-26
Theme: Wisdom
In the 1st reading from the Acts of the Apostles, we see how St. Paul made use of wisdom, to his advantage. He found himself in a situation in which the Jews were accusing him of his choice of word. When Paul realized that there were two groups of people responsible for his predicament, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, he appealed to the Pharisees, being a Pharisee himself. He points out to them that he is been persecuted because of his respect for the hope and resurrection of the dead. This is the position of the Pharisees, and they believe in it, but the Sadducees do not believe in it. In our call to discipleship as Christians, there are moments in our life when we must apply such a wisdom, to come out of difficult situation that we may find ourselves, just like in the case of Paul. He was able to put division between them when he raised this issue, the situation would have been different if both parties remained united against him. With this singular action, he was rescued from their hands. Sometimes, the use of wisdom is a necessity as we preach the good news of Christ, it will save us from difficult situations most times. There were moments when Jesus himself had to make use of wisdom to disorganize the evil plans they had for him. Wisdom is a gift from God and a necessity in our lives as children of God.
The response to our psalm today says, “Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge”. This is very true in our lives as children of God. On our own, we cannot fight the battles that will come to us in life, but knowing fully well that God is with us, is enough to keep us going. This is because when God is involved, we are sure of victory, all fear disappears. The most important thing is that we must build a good relationship with God and be assured of the fact that it is God leading us and we are following him behind. In view of this, we must make honest and sincere effort to live a life that is worthy of the name Christian and always pleasing to God. Never think it is not possible, it is very possible with the help of God and our honest effort. Make that bold step today and God will bless all your efforts.
In the gospel reading from St. John, Jesus continues to pray for the unity of his followers, all of us inclusive. Jesus has done what he should do for us, what is left is for all of us to play our own role to make it come to fruition. We are all encouraged today to make effort to promote unity among the body of Christ. May the Lord bless his words in our hearts, in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit, Amen. Peace be with you.