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Gospel Reading for May 20, 2026 – John 17: 11b-19
ONLY ONE
Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed, saying: “Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one. When I was with them I protected them in your name that you gave me, and I guarded them, and none of them was lost except the son of destruction, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you. I speak this in the world so that they may share my joy completely. I gave them your word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world anymore than I belong to the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the Evil One. They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world. And I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth.”
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Jesus continues his prayer to the Father before he is arrested. He is still speaking about his disciples, asking the Father to consecrate them just as he consecrated them.
One statement worth reflecting on is this: “I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the Evil One.” True salvation does not mean escaping from the world, but remaining in the world while guarding ourselves against the Evil One.
One consoling thought is that we really have ONLY ONE true enemy—the devil—and his presence can often be recognized. Whenever we are tempted to turn away from Jesus, to neglect our relationship with God, or to choose sin over goodness, the enemy is surely at work. Whenever thoughts, desires, or impulses lead us toward evil, selfishness, hatred, dishonesty, or despair, we can be certain that the devil is trying to draw us away from God.
Many people are afraid of ghosts because they cannot be seen. Remember how the disciples were so afraid when Jesus walked on the water, thinking he was a ghost (Matthew 14: 25-26; Mark 6: 49-50). They may imagine them to be in front, behind, or beside them. But with the devil, even though we do not see him physically, we can very easily recognize his presence through the temptations and darkness he tries to place in our hearts.
It is a basic human instinct to preserve ourselves. That is why we naturally avoid pain, danger, suffering, and death. In a spiritual sense, resisting the devil and avoiding evil are also acts of self-preservation, because they protect not only our lives, but also our souls and our relationship with God.
Lord Jesus, give us the strength and the will never to allow the devil to gain the better of us.
