In these final  chapters of John’s Gospel, Jesus is trying to sum up what his life and mission is all about. He speaks at length of the bond between him and his Father and it is from this bond of love that he is ‘sent’.

Jesus tells us that we too are ‘sent’ to continue his mission. Friendship with Jesus is being with him, and being sent in his name. Our mission is to place his love and message at the centre of the world. In following him in mission and love, we too are ‘being sent’.

This Sunday we celebrate World Communication Day, and it feels a timely opportunity to consider the task we have been set. The first disciples continued Jesus’ mission    without planes, trains, without a postal service, without  TV or radio and without the internet. Yet thanks to these early disciples we know Jesus’ name throughout the entire globe two thousand years down the line. We have a much easier job than the early disciples had. Now all we need is a little bit of their sense of mission.

How should it feel to be entrusted with such an important job? Well for most of us, it is something we don’t think about nearly enough.  We are told not to let the world tie us down, but that’s most definitely easier said than done. In truth we are very much of this world. We spend most of our lives worrying about work, money, illness, relationships and commitments. It’s very hard to rise above worldly   concerns. In fact for most of us it just seems impossible.

Today’s gospel reminds us that Jesus’ love for his disciples does not fade. It endures eternally. He asks the Father to protect and guide. He entrusts us, his friends and  companions, to the loving care of his Father. If we are    really to believe this, we should leave the house every morning with a lot more on our minds than simply being on our phones. Today is an invitation not to think of ourselves on the outside looking in, but to be as much a part as we can in impacting the world as much as those early disciples did.

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