Acts 1:15-17, 20-26 / 1 John 4:11-16 / John 17:11-19
No one can really say that they don't have any problems in life. Even a carefree person will be bothered by flies and mosquitoes, and will have some complaints about life.
So, whenever we are faced with the problems of life, especially the big and difficult problems, we will certainly resort to complaining.
We know that complaining is not the solution to our problems in life. In fact, complaining only creates more problems for us.
But in our anger and frustration, we want to complain, and we may even blame others for our problems.
And it can also be quite convenient to blame God for all our problems.
Also, when we pray for God's help to solve our problems, we don't seem to get an answer.
But the truth of life is that life is difficult.
And so it is with faith; faith is also difficult.
So, we not only have problems with life, we also have problems with our faith.
In the gospel, Jesus says that we belong to the world no more than He belongs to the world.
But Jesus is not asking God to remove us from the world.
So, Jesus is not asking God to remove all our problems in life.
Rather, Jesus is asking God for something more crucial and more important, and that is that God protects us from the evil one.
Life is difficult, and we will have our problems in life.
And then the evil one will lurk around to tempt us, and use our problems to pull us down.
And when we give in to the temptations of the evil one, then the problems in life will overwhelm us, and we will begin to drown in disappointment and frustration.
That is why Jesus ask God to protect us from the evil one.
On our part, we must look to God for help and protection.
In the gospel, Jesus gave us a posture of prayer, a posture to turn to God for help and protection.
The gospel passage begins with: Jesus raised His eyes too heaven.
When we come to Church, what will catch our attention are the brightly-lit stained glass images of Jesus, Mother Mary and Saint Joseph.
When we raise our eyes and attention to the sacred images, we will know that Jesus is our Saviour, and Mother Mary and Saint Joseph are praying for us for God's help and protection.
But if we keep looking down, then the evil one will only pull us further down.
And talking about raising up and looking down, there is this legend about St. Teresa of Avila, the Carmelite nun who reformed the Carmelite Order in the 16th century.
St. Teresa of Avila was serious about reforming, but she was also witty and funny, even in the face of persecution and temptation.
Legend has it that one day while she was in the toilet, the evil one popped up and began mocking her.
St. Teresa prayed and then retorted to the evil one with this: What comes out from my mouth goes up to God. What comes out from the other end is for you the evil one.
So let us raise our minds and hearts to God and let what comes out from our lips give praise and thanks to God.
God will bless us with joy and protect us from the evil one.
May the joy of the Lord be our strength to face the difficulties of life.
May the joy of the Lord be our protection against the temptations of the evil one.