Wednesday 5 June

ST BONIFACE BISHOP, MARTYR

Acts 20:28-38; Psalm 68; John 10:11-19

Jesus’ prayer for his disciples

John’s gospel records Jesus’ prayer for us and for his disciples. His prayer is that we may be united with him and with the Father. Being one with him and with the Father does not mean that we be removed from the world. But his prayer is that, though we remain in the world and engage with what we encounter in the world, we be protected from the evils of the world. St Boniface, whom we honour today, left his homeland in England, not to leave the world, but to live as a monk in union with God and then to serve as a bishop in Germany.