Wednesday of the Seventh week of Easter

Today's Mass Readings

We are in graduation season. Lots of parishes are having special Masses for graduates and giving them special blessings. The parish I was assigned to in Oklahoma City did this. We had a special graduation Mass for our eighth graders heading on to high school. I thought it was important to not just bless the graduates but to bless their teachers as well. Teachers are like second parents. They invest a lot in their students with a hope that all this knowledge poured in will stick. And at the end of the year, the teacher has to step back, and their students move to the next level.

This is kind of what’s happening with Paul in his farewell address to the presbyters in our first reading, and what Jesus is saying on the cross close to his death in our gospel today. Both men are reviewing the work that they’ve done, praying that what they taught their students sticks. They trust and believe that their work will continue. This is something that both Jesus and Paul are teaching us—that we need to do our work, be able to let it go, and have a trust that all will be fine.

Reflection by Fr. Macario Martinez, OSB