Daily Catholic Lectio. Tue, 3 June ’25. To Be in the World

Daily Catholic Lectio

Tue, 3 June 2025

Saint Charles Lwanga and Companions – Martyrs

Seventh Week of Easter – Tuesday

Acts 20:17–27. John 17:1–11

To Be in the World

“I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world.”

At the end of His farewell discourse, Jesus offers a solemn prayer for His disciples. In it, He affirms that His time in the world is ending and that He must return to the Father. Here, the “world” refers to time and space. Jesus’ earthly ministry has reached its completion. He departs from this space and time to return to the realm of the Father. In contrast, however, the disciples remain “in the world.” Their time continues. Their places of mission continue. They are called to live within this world—not as escapists but as those who see the world as the platform of divine action.

Historically, some strands of Christian theology have emphasized “world-rejection” or “world-hatred.” But the world is not something to be despised or denied. Rather, it is the very field of our relationships—with nature and with one another. When God created the first human, He placed him bodily in the world. It is only when we are rooted firmly in this world that we can bear fruit that lasts.

In Gaudete et Exsultate (“Rejoice and Be Glad”), Pope Francis speaks of the “call to holiness in today’s world.” He encourages us to live as signs of holiness through perseverance, patience, gentleness, joy, a sense of humour, courage, zeal, community life, familial love, and prayer (cf. nn. 112–157). These qualities are how we “remain” in the world as witnesses to God’s presence.

The martyrs we commemorate today—St. Charles Lwanga and companions from Uganda—were teachers, catechists, and men of deep conviction. Their catechetical mission taught them that divine knowledge emerges through the knowledge of the world, for through the visible we journey toward the invisible.

Our world is made up of our families, our professions, our studies, our friendships, our village, our parish. Here is where we are planted, grow, and bear fruit. Though society may chase profit and pleasure, we can shape our own “world” with peace and joy. Accepting our small world and gently transforming it through our presence and witness is our sacred task.

“Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven?” (Acts 1:10). Let us not merely look heavenward but live meaningfully in the world entrusted to us.

Fr. Yesu Karunanidhi

Archdiocese of Madurai

Missionary of Mercy