We are coming to the end of Jesus' long discourse to his disciples at the Last Supper. Today's reading consists of a beautiful prayer for them to be able to carry on after he has left them. He prays for their continued loyalty to the gospel message and for unity among themselves. They have accepted the message of Jesus and, because of that, they will be hated by the world as Jesus himself was hated. Because, like Jesus, they do not identify with the world and its values and priorities. On the contrary they will challenge these values. Jesus makes it very clear that he is not asking that they be removed from the world's environment, only that they be protected from its evil influences. It is only by being in the world that they will be able to communicate the Gospel message. That is where they are to do their work. They were, as he said elsewhere, to be "the salt of the earth" and the "yeast in the dough." Let us then pray that we, too, may be ready for the hostility and the indifference of the world. To be 'holy' is not to escape and distance ourselves physically from that world, which is what many are tempted to do or to even think that is the right thing to do.