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John 17: 1-11Farewells, are always done with mixed feelings. On the one hand there is this sense of accomplishment and on the other hand feelings of needing to say good bye. Its the end of the academic year, graduations, proms, graduation parties and farewells. A lot of excitement also loads of sadness to leave friends and say Goodbye. Bidding farewells, it is not one of the most favorite things in life for people, people always say goodbyes with mixed feelings. Sometimes we make choices to say good bye, sometimes, thats how it is, we just have to say goodbye. A priest was being honored at his farewell dinner after 25 years in the parish. A leading local politician, who was also a member of the congregation, was chosen to make the presentation and give a little leaving speech at the dinner. He was delayed so the priest decided to say his own few words while they waited.'I got my first impression of the parish from the first confession I heard here. I thought I had been assigned to a terrible place. The very first person who entered my confessional told me he had stolen a television set and, when stopped by the police, had almost murdered the officer. He had stolen money from his parents, misused from his place of business, had an affair with his boss's wife, taken illegal drugs. I was appalled. But as the days went on I knew that all my people were not like that and I had, indeed, come to a fine parish full of good and loving people.'Just as the priest finished his talk the politician arrived full of apologies at being late. He immediately began to make the presentation and give his speech.'I'll never forget the first day our parish priest arrived, 'said the politician.' In fact, I had the honor of being the first one to go to him in confession.'We all know that there is ending for every new beginning and there was a beginning to every ending. The text talks about the Jesus end days on earth after the resurrection. We dont have much record that Jesus involved in doing active ministry after his resurrection, but visited many people who were close to him. Perhaps it was his vacation time but for a reason. He gave new energy to the peoplehowever, just as every vacation ends, now its time for Jesus to go home. Its no wonder that Jesus is fully human, as you can see, Jesus didnt do everything mechanically, his ministry, his death, his resurrection and now his ascensionhe was emotionally involved in everything he did. As he was going to say goodbye to his people, he prayed to God, interceded for them. Its the time that Jesus is expressing mixed feelings and prayed in love and care for them. He says a beautiful prayer on behalf of each one of them. We all like nice prayerssaid on our behalfdont we! What is a nice prayer? Often it is not the one that is theologically sound, nor the one that is politically correct, nor is it the one that is profound, but the one that comes from heart, the one that is caring and affectionate. Yes, we all find peace after prayer, especially when someone lifts up our burdens, our needs and issues.One of the things that churches are not doing anymore is doing prayers collectively, together, with emotion and passionprayer in love, prayer with love is always something that is upliftingI heard a quote that says

Jesus prayed a context specific prayer, not the one that is to be generalized. He particularly lifts up the people who were close to him, whom he loved, and says, he is praying for them, and only for them. Yes it is a context specific prayer.Back in India, it is the same tradition in Christian homes to pray before saying good bye like travelling somewhere-- and at times its a challenge with few people if we ask them to praypeople say there were times that trains and buses left because the prayers were never ending are pending with God. A lot of times we go in front of God without commitment to what we say in prayer. We cant just limit our prayers just to a habit, we must mean what we are saying. I am guilty many times, when we get to the Lords prayer, its kind of the end of the service, and we are already thinking about whats nextthe Lords prayer that we have memorized it so well, we can say Lords prayers with no mistake while thinking about our dinner appointment after the service. We dont do Lords Prayer because its a tradition, but because it is a great prayer, and we need to understand the significance of what we are sayingshall we make that decisionwe go to church, we read many prayerslets not read the prayer, but pray thempay attention to those words that we find in this Bulletin. Let us say only if they are meaningful to us, and that shows our commitment in prayer. Similarly, lets pay attention to each word in the Lords prayer, every time we pray, so we pray those words involved and in commitment. Now returning to the text, Jesus own prayer in the text is not the long list of many favors from God, but he is pleading God to care for all his loved ones as he will be physically saying good-bye to them. Jesus has given us a tradition to pray for our loved ones, to support and lift one another in care and love. Jesus prays, I ask you to protect them from the evil one. Jesus does not ask that they may be removed from all evil influences and presence, but they be protected in the midst of evil, temptation and danger that surrounds them. He also prays for the unity among his believers. Jesus prays, Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. Thats one of the biggest challenges today to be one and united. Jesus is not speaking of merging, so the dominant takes overno, he wants them to be united, yet respect diversity. Diversity in general is threatening because it brings differences. Most of us rather a have one opinion and everybody say yea to it, rather than deal with difference of opinions. Unity in diversity means acceptance and respect for one another. It is to abolish the standards and substandards, so there will be unity. Jesus is worried just like a parent who gets worried to leave siblings alone. Jesus knows that its not easy for people to live in unity and oneness, there are going to be troubles, but if God helps, then God will help resolve the matters. How many of us go to God, asking God to fix our relationshipswe want to fix them, we dont go to Godyou know whyif we goclose our eyes God will speak to us about what we need to change in ourselves so we can fix ithow about thatNothats not what we want to dowe want them to changebut thats not going to be possible if we open our hearts and let God speak to us. Jesus thinks God must help us and protect us if we have issuesThe church history has proved the same; it was all about divisions rather than unity. Sadly, the church has a hard time with UNITY. But scripture makes it clear that the church is called for UNITY. We do have instances where unity was possible. For instance, Acts 4:32 says about the early church: All the believers were one in heart and mind. What a powerful description of the Church. . Jesus is burdened and praying for those he left behind, for the unity of the believerslook what we have done We are so divided, the church is divided, the people are divideddid we let Jesus down? How can we show our unity, as that is what Jesus is interceding for us, may it be in our families, our communities, and in our churchesUntity, and good relationships bring harmony, something that we all need to stand up for. Do you pray for your church in your daily prayers? We do prayers as we bid adieu. We say blessings It seems a mother and daughter having this conversation at an airport-- Its time for the daughter to go in through the security check to go across the oceans leaving her ageing mom back at home. Many of us can resonate with this settingwell, Both of them are having their momentsthey are thinking what if we dont see each other again They hugged each other, getting teary mom, said, 'I love you dear and I wish you enough'. The daughter replied as a matter of fact, yes mom, you have always given me more than enough, I love you too. The daughter left with a heavy heart.There was a pastor standing there, moved by the feeling, and also empathizing with their anxiety, a feeling of what if its a goodbye forever the pastor reached out to the momspoke for a while, and the pastor asked, 'When you were saying good-bye, I heard you say, 'I wish you enough'. May I ask what that means? just curious

She began to smile. She said my parents handed down that blessing to me and I would give my daughter the same blessing over and again. She heard it many times by nowhere is how it goesI wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright no matter how gray the day may appear. I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun even more. I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive and everlasting. I wish you enough pain so that even the smallest of joys in life may appear bigger. I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting. I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess. I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye. May God also bless us also with enough, so all will have enough. Amen.

By Surekha Nelavala