Frederick, Maryland, United States - Daily Mass Reading & Catholic Meditation “The Word Among Us” for Tuesday, 3 June 2014

Frederick, Maryland, United States - Daily Mass Reading & Catholic Meditation “The Word Among Us” for Tuesday, 3 June 2014
Meditations: Acts 20:17 From Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called to himself the elders of the assembly. 18 When they had come to him, he said to them, “You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you all the time, 19 serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears, and with trials which happened to me by the plots of the Jews; 20 how I didn’t shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, teaching you publicly and from house to house, 21 testifying both to Jews and to Greeks repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus.[a] 22 Now, behold, I go bound by the Spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there; 23 except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions wait for me. 24 But these things don’t count; nor do I hold my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to fully testify to the Good News of the grace of God.
25 “Now, behold, I know that you all, among whom I went about preaching God’s Kingdom, will see my face no more. 26 Therefore I testify to you today that I am clean from the blood of all men, 27 for I didn’t shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.
Footnotes:
a. Acts 20:21 TR adds “Christ”
Saint Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs
I am not responsible for the blood of any of you. (Acts 20:26)
Imagine being at this last meeting between St. Paul and the believers in Ephesus. He had lived and worked with them for three years, and they must have been dear to his heart. But now he had come to say good-bye. There were embraces and tears, sadness and hope. Doesn’t it strike you as odd, then, that Paul would end this emotional encounter by washing his hands of responsibility for them? Doesn’t it seem cold?
Maybe it would help if we looked at this story from a different angle. Given Paul’s history with the Ephesians, it’s not possible to imagine him just walking away. What Paul is doing here, rather, is commending them to the Lord. Looking back over his time with them, he probably saw ways he could have done better. But he didn’t want these recollections to cloud his vision—or the Ephesians’ vision—of God’s work in their hearts. In the end, Paul was at peace with what he did and didn’t do. He refused to rehearse what might have been and directed his gaze to the future instead.
What a valuable lesson for those times when we look back over our lives! We fret over how this or that situation worked out. We worry whether we did or said enough. But worrying never helps. All we can do is ask whether we were trying to say yes to God—and leave the rest to him.
Ultimately, God is the One who is in control. We can entrust our friends and families to him because we know that God cares about them. We know that he loves them and will see them through every peak and valley in their lives long after we are gone.
Is what we do important? Yes, but it isn’t all up to us. God is above everything, and we can’t always see what fruit will come from our words or actions. So take a lesson from St. Paul. Trust that as you are trying to be faithful to what God is asking, he will take care of the rest.
“Lord, I put my family and friends into your hands. Help me to be faithful to you and trust you to take care of them.” Amen.
Psalm 68:10 Your congregation lived therein.
    You, God, prepared your goodness for the poor.
11 The Lord announced the word.
    The ones who proclaim it are a great company.
20 God is to us a God of deliverance.
    To Yahweh, the Lord, belongs escape from death.
21 But God will strike through the head of his enemies,
    the hairy scalp of such a one as still continues in his guiltiness.
John 17:1 Jesus said these things, and lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said, “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may also glorify you; 2 even as you gave him authority over all flesh, he will give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ. 4 I glorified you on the earth. I have accomplished the work which you have given me to do. 5 Now, Father, glorify me with your own self with the glory which I had with you before the world existed. 6 I revealed your name to the people whom you have given me out of the world. They were yours, and you have given them to me. They have kept your word. 7 Now they have known that all things whatever you have given me are from you, 8 for the words which you have given me I have given to them, and they received them, and knew for sure that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I don’t pray for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All things that are mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them through your name which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are.
-------