The prayer of Jesus from yesterday’s Gospel and the farewell speech of Paul from yesterday’s first reading continue in today’s texts.

Jesus continues to pray to His Father for the flock He has gathered saying, “I am not asking you to remove them from the world but to protect them from the evil one.” This in no way implies that the world is evil, but is metaphorically used by Jesus to describe the forces of evil in the world that would try to overpower the Good News being proclaimed by the disciples after He had left them. It also means, therefore, that the disciples, because they are in the world, would face many trials.

Likewise, Paul reminds the Christian converts to guard their faith by constantly nurturing it; in this way, they will prevent themselves from falling prey to the evil forces of the world.

May the beliefs we profess, passionately lead us to counter the forces of evil.