Leaving with accomplishment

It is hard to say good-bye, but it is good to leave with the certainty of good work done.

So it is in both of today’s readings.

In the first reading (Acts 20:17-27), Saint Paul bids farewell to the Church of Ephesus with a clear conscience.

But now I know that none of you
to whom I preached the kingdom during my travels
will ever see my face again.

And so I solemnly declare to you this day
that I am not responsible for the blood of any of you,
for I did not shrink from proclaiming to you
the entire plan of God.

In the Gospel (John 17:1-11), our Lord’s Farewell Discourse becomes a prayer to the Father: a prayer for his followers:

I revealed your name
to those whom you gave me out of the world.

They belonged to you,
and you gave them to me,
and they have kept your word.

Now they know that everything you gave me
is from you,
because the words you gave to me
I have given to them,
and they accepted them
and truly understood that I came from you,
and they have believed that you sent me.

I pray for them.

I do not pray for the world
but for the ones you have given me,
because they are yours,
and everything of mine is yours
and everything of yours is mine,
and I have been glorified in them.

And now I will no longer be in the world,
but they are in the world,
while I am coming to you.

With our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ watching over us, we should ask ourselves this question:

When our time comes, will you and I be able to speak with satisfaction and clear consciences about what we have done to bring other people to God?

If not, why not start doing more now?