To know the Holy Trinity on a deep personal basis, is what convicts us to share the Glory of the one living God with others. That eternal life, through the gates of heaven has indeed been opened for all of us who believe in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And if we truly believe and live in the power and love of our resurrected Lord why then should we ever fear death?
For it is only through death that we can walk into the heavenly light of Christ. Through death we partake in the Heavenly Banquet with the Lamb of God at His table. We are one with Him as He is one with us for all eternity. We are once again reunited with all the Saints who have gone before us and we stand together in divine praise and worship of the Lord our God who rules both Heaven and earth. So as St Paul rightfully declared “O Death where is your victory, O where is you sting?” 1 Cor 1:55
If we fear death it is because we have not fully embraced the reality that we are created in the image and likeness of God our Father, and because He loves us with an everlasting love He sent His only Begotten to save us from all sin. And through Him we have eternal life. Christ has already conquered death once for all. He reigns victorious!
Lord Jesus Christ my Lord and my God, grant that I may always live in the light of Your resurrection now and forever. Amen
First reading
Acts 20:17-27 †
I have without faltering put before you the whole of God’s purpose
From Miletus Paul sent for the elders of the church of Ephesus. When they arrived he addressed these words to them:
‘You know what my way of life has been ever since the first day I set foot among you in Asia, how I have served the Lord in all humility, with all the sorrows and trials that came to me through the plots of the Jews. I have not hesitated to do anything that would be helpful to you; I have preached to you, and instructed you both in public and in your homes, urging both Jews and Greeks to turn to God and to believe in our Lord Jesus.
‘And now you see me a prisoner already in spirit; I am on my way to Jerusalem, but have no idea what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit, in town after town, has made it clear enough that imprisonment and persecution await me. But life to me is not a thing to waste words on, provided that when I finish my race I have carried out the mission the Lord Jesus gave me – and that was to bear witness to the Good News of God’s grace.
‘I now feel sure that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will ever see my face again. And so here and now I swear that my conscience is clear as far as all of you are concerned, for I have without faltering put before you the whole of God’s purpose.’
Gospel
John 17:1-11
Father, it is time for you to glorify me
Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said:
‘Father, the hour has come: glorify your Son
so that your Son may glorify you; and, through the power over all mankind that you have given him, let him give eternal life to all those you have entrusted to him.
And eternal life is this:to know you,
the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
I have glorified you on earth and finished the work that you gave me to do.
Now, Father, it is time for you to glorify me with that glory I had with you
before ever the world was.
I have made your name known to the men you took from the world to give me.
They were yours and you gave them to me,
and they have kept your word.
Now at last they know that all you have given me comes indeed from you; for I have given them the teaching you gave to me,
and they have truly accepted this, that I came from you, and have believed that it was you who sent me.
I pray for them;
I am not praying for the world but for those you have given me, because they belong to you: all I have is yours and all you have is mine, and in them I am glorified.
I am not in the world any longer, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you.’
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