I DO NOT ACCOUNT MY LIFE OF ANY VALUE…

Acts 20:17-26 
17 And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called to him the elders of the church.
18 And when they came to him, he said to them: “You yourselves know how I lived among you all the time from the first day that I set foot in Asia,19 serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which befell me through the plots of the Jews;20 how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house,21 testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance to God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
22 And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, bound in the Spirit, not knowing what shall befall me there;23 except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me.
24 But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may accomplish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
25 And now, behold, I know that all you among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom will see my face no more.
26 Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all of you,

John 17:1-11

1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify thy Son that the Son may glorify thee,2 since thou hast given him power over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom thou hast given him.3 And this is eternal life, that they know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.4 I glorified thee on earth, having accomplished the work which thou gavest me to do;5 and now, Father, glorify thou me in thy own presence with the glory which I had with thee before the world was made.
6 “I have manifested thy name to the men whom thou gavest me out of the world; thine they were, and thou gavest them to me, and they have kept thy word7 Now they know that everything that thou hast given me is from thee;8 for I have given them the words which thou gavest me, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from thee; and they have believed that thou didst send me.
9 I am praying for them; I am not praying for the world but for those whom thou hast given me, for they are thine;10 all mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I am glorified in them.11 And now I am no more in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to thee. Holy Father, keep them in thy name, which thou hast given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.

MEDITATION 

THE FIRST READING: St PAUL gathered the disciples, evangelists, catechists and ecclesiatical servants of the Chuch in Ephesus to thank, inspire, strengthen and pray for them, because his mission is complete, for he must return to the Ecclesiatical hierarchy situated in Jerusalem where he would likely be arrested by the enemiesof the Church. Paul sympathize with his fellow workers who like him will likely be percecuted by the enemies of the Church for proclaiming the gospel, wherefore he unapologetically cannot take responsibility for them who humble obeyed to serve Christ in good and bad times notwithstanding the plans of the enemies of the Church.

THE GOSPEL READING: Christ lifted His gaze up to heaven, appraising the Father in the first person present, that He has completed His mission, acknowledging that He has received the power to give eternal life to those whom the Father has given to Him—that is the apostles. Jesus propound that the apostles belong to Him and that He will glorify them, meaning the apostles will devote themselves to; serve Christ, glorify God, evangelize the people, bear fruit, remain one, united with one hope, one baptism and one faith as the Father, Son and Spirit is One. 

We who find ourselves between a rock and a hard place for whatever reason, should stop our self depreciating victim mentality, reflect upon our lives and give thanks to God for the graces, goodness, charity and love we received up to that moment when things appear to fall apart and stop playing the blame game! This is certainly not the time to be selfish by giving in or give up but to reach out to a priest, a servant of Christ, for our soul is of much value. Also bend the knee and indulge Christ to appeal to the Father to rescue us and shatter the head of our enemy who tempt us to walk in his guilty ways!

LET US PRAY:Psalms 68:10-11,21,

10 thy flock found a dwelling in it; in thy goodness, O God, thou didst provide for the needy.11 The Lord gives the command; great is the host of those who bore the tidings:20 Our God is a God of salvation; and to GOD, the Lord, belongs escape from death.21 But God will shatter the heads of his enemies, the hairy crown of him who walks in his guilty ways.

Commentary. Henry R SYLVESTER Note: The daily scripture readings are taken from the Roman Missal which the Catholic Church use in the daily Celebration of the Holy Eucharist throughout the world.Some weekly readings may differ because of the celebration of local feast days.