From the responsorial psalm: “You kingdoms of the earth, sing to God, chant praise to the Lord who rides on the heights of the ancient heavens. Behold, his voice resounds, the voice of power: “Confess the power of God!” Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth.”
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 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.”
In the presence of his disciples, Jesus lifts up his heart in prayer to his Father. Jesus acknowledges that he is departing from the world and returning to the Father so that they may share in his joy fully. The prayer is for the disciples who will be sent out into the world, not taken from it. God, whose word and being is truth, hears the prayer of his Son, who asks that the disciples be consecrated in truth as Jesus consecrates himself for them “so that they also may be consecrated in truth.” Just as the Father sent Jesus into the world, Jesus sends the disciples and all who believe in him to witness to his truth so that all may be one.
God of mercy, consecrate me in your truth. That is the prayer of Jesus your Son; in him is the way and the truth and the life. Protect me and guard me, Lord, as Jesus protected the disciples in your name. Let me be sent out into the world as a courageous witness to your truth. There will be trouble in the world, trials to face today and in days to come. Despite this, Lord, let me know the joy that comes from being in union with you and Jesus Christ your Son. Saint Isidore, pray for us!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.