Ad hoc allies

In today’s first reading (Acts 22:30; 23:6-11), Saint Paul is in a tight spot and makes use of a belief he shares with people who have been working against him.

It is a reminder of the wisdom of ad hoc allies: people with whom we may not agree on everything, but with whom we can work to achieve a common good (or at least avoid a shared danger).

Of course, there is also a danger from ad hoc allies.

We must therefore at all times and in all things exercise prudence and ask our Lord Jesus Christ for the gift of discernment, so that we may effectively navigate through the dangers of this world and remain faithful to the truth and the mission he has entrusted to us.

As our Lord says to the Father in today's Gospel (John 17:20-26):

I pray not only for these,
but also for those who will believe in me
through their word,
so that they may all be one,
as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
that they also may be in us,
that the world may believe that you sent me.

And I have given them
the glory you gave me,
so that they may be one,
as we are one,
I in them and you in me,
that they may be brought to perfection as one,
that the world may know
that you sent me,
and that you loved them
even as you loved me.

Father, they are your gift to me.
I wish that where I am
they also may be with me,
that they may see my glory that you gave me,
because you loved me
before the foundation of the world.

Righteous Father,
the world also does not know you,
but I know you,
and they know that you sent me.

I made known to them your name
and I will make it known,
that the love with which you loved me
may be in them and I in them.