Daily Catholic Lectio
Tue, 19 May 2026
Seventh Week of Easter
Ac 20:17-27. Jn 17:1-11
To Be in the World
In today’s Gospel, Jesus prays to the Father and says, “I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world.” These words come at the end of His farewell discourse. Jesus knows that His hour has come. His earthly mission is reaching its fulfillment. He is going back to the Father. His time and place in this world, in the visible form of His ministry, are coming to an end.
But the disciples remain in the world. Their time continues. Their mission continues. Their place remains among people, families, communities, struggles, hopes, and wounds. Jesus does not take them away from the world. He entrusts them to the Father while they remain in the world.
Here, the word “world” can be understood as the space and time in which we live. It is not merely something evil to be rejected. Sometimes Christian spirituality has spoken too much about rejecting the world or despising the world. But the world is also God’s creation. It is the place where human beings live, relate, love, work, suffer, grow, and bear fruit. When God created the human person, He placed him in the world, with a body, with the earth under his feet, and with relationships around him. We can bear fruit only when we are rooted somewhere.
Therefore, Christian life is not an escape from the world. It is a faithful presence in the world. Jesus goes to the Father, but the disciples remain here as His witnesses. They must live in the world without belonging to the spirit of the world. They must stand on the earth, but keep their hearts open to heaven.
The first reading shows us this beautifully in the life of Saint Paul. Paul takes leave of the elders of Ephesus. Ephesus was his world for a time. There he preached, worked, prayed, suffered, served, and built up the community. Now, before leaving, he says, “I served the Lord with all humility and with tears.” He does not speak of success, power, or comfort. He speaks of humility, tears, service, and fidelity.
Paul also says, “I do not consider my life of any importance to me, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus.” These words reveal the heart of an apostle. Paul’s life is not centred on himself. It is centred on the mission entrusted to him. His desire is to complete the race and bear witness to the Gospel of God’s grace.
Paul did not escape his world. He transformed it by his presence. He adorned the place where he lived with the values of the Kingdom: humility, courage, service, truth, and love. Ephesus became holy ground because Paul lived there as a servant of Christ.
This is also our call. Our world is not something far away. Our family is our world. Our work is our world. Our studies are our world. Our friends are our world. Our village, parish, community, and daily duties are our world. It is there that we are rooted. It is there that we grow. It is there that we must bear fruit.
The world around us may often be shaped by profit, pleasure, competition, and self-interest. But we are not powerless. We can make our small world more peaceful, more joyful, more compassionate, and more human. We may not change the whole world at once, but we can change the atmosphere around us. A kind word, a patient response, a faithful duty, a forgiving heart, and a joyful presence can quietly transform our surroundings.
Pope Francis, in Gaudete et Exsultate, reminds us that holiness is lived in today’s world through perseverance, patience, meekness, joy, a sense of humour, boldness, community life, family life, and prayer. Holiness is not only for monasteries or sanctuaries. It is lived in kitchens, classrooms, offices, streets, parishes, hospitals, and homes. It is lived where we are.
The Ascension message also returns to us: “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven?” The angels invite the disciples not to remain frozen, looking at the sky. They must return to the world. They must begin the mission. Eyes lifted to heaven must become feet planted on earth.
Today the Lord tells us: remain in the world, but remain with God. Accept your small world. Love it. Serve it. Bless it. Transform it. Let your presence make it a little more peaceful, a little more joyful, a little more holy.
Jesus goes to the Father. But we remain in the world. And this world, with all its limits and wounds, is the place where we must become witnesses of His love.
Fr Yesu Karunanidhi
Archdiocese of Madurai
An initiative of “Yesni Prays”
Yesu Karunanidhi 
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