Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish

FR MICHAEL BIBLICAL IMAGERY

(Fr Michael Boakye Yeboah: Vice Rector of St Gregory Seminary, Kumasi-Ghana)

A COMPASSIONATE PRAYER

            There are a lot of things that people love Jesus for, but I think one of the things that stands out is his compassion for all children of God, especially his disciples (those he called his friends). Departing from this world, Jesus makes a compassionate prayer to his Father for the upkeep, sustenance, and protection of his disciples and by extension to all children of God.

            On behalf of his own, Jesus makes a dual request of the Father: that he “guard them from the evil one”, who will test them as long as they “are in the world, “ and that he “consecrate them by means of truth.” It was right that Jesus asked the Father to protect his disciples from the evil one. If the devil was bold enough to tempt Jesus in person and not through one of his agents, then it was appropriate that Jesus protects his disciples from the temptations and tricks of the devil. Without the intercessory assistance of Jesus there wasn’t any way the disciples would escape from the devil. If the disciples needed Jesus to stand by them, then we need Jesus in our time more than ever. In our contemporary world the devil is using all kinds of means to destroy children of God and so we need Jesus to come to our aid.

            The other request that Jesus made on our behalf was the consecration of his disciples in the truth. Remember that in Christian theology when we talk of the truth, we talk of Jesus himself because he himself referred to himself as “the truth, the life, and way.” If Jesus is the truth then being consecrated in him will automatically protect one from the devil. There is no other way through which one can feel secure in this world. Jesus is the answer to all your life challenges. The consecration also means the coming of the Holy Spirit.

            Before Jesus made the above dual request to his Father on half of his disciples, Jesus started his prayer with the call for Christian unity. I think if we want succeed in our battle against the devil, we need to stay united; also how can we Christians tell the world that we are followers of Jesus yet we seem to have different perspectives to the truth (Jesus Christ)? There is a greater call for unity than ever before. Last week I heard through social media that some Catholics in a country are pushing for a breakaway from Rome and the authority of the Holy Father. I don’t know the details of their case but I have been praying for them since I heard of the news because as a Church historian I know of this threat in the history of the Church – when in the past some countries pushed for National Churches so that they will be independent from Rome. We are making great efforts towards unity with our separated brethren and as we make this prayerful effort some Catholics cannot push for separation. We beg you to stay with us for others are on their way home; why leave now?

            At times, I sit and ask myself, what happened to this prayer request of Jesus to Father? Why haven’t we remained unified? Why has there been disunity and division among his disciples from just a few years after he left them? The reason is the same as in all cases of prayer: “Heaven helps those who help themselves.” Jesus’ desire and prayer for unity among his disciples needs their cooperation. It is not in the character of God to just bulldoze his way to achieve an objective. He always insists on the willing cooperation of those who are concerned. He always wants to treat us like the adults that we are supposed to be by asking us to freely cooperate with him in achieving his objective.

            Do you know something? The disunity among Christians can be due to our own selfish reasons. Every group wants to be in the right. Let build on what unites us.