Thursday of Seventh Week of Easter
Acts 22: 30, 23: 6-11; Jn 17: 20-26
Dc. Larry Brockman
Such a beautiful prayer!
We just heard Jesus’ prayer at the Last Supper on behalf of us all. By this time in his life, Jesus’ prayer relationship with the Father had been nurtured and fine honed. And even though Jesus was still fully human, and had all the same limitations we have as humans, He was able to see God’s mission for him with ultimate clarity. This prayer displays how his mission relates to all of us.
I was particularly struck by this line: “Father, they are your gift to me.” That is because that line kind of sums up the Love Jesus has for all of us. This man is about to suffer incredible pain and indignity at the hands of evil men and institutions all because he was faithfully preaching the truth of God’s love for all of us. And even our representatives on earth at the time, the Apostles, didn’t understand that. One of them was about to deny him, most of them were about to hide from him, and one of them was about to betray him. And yet, He sees them, and us, as God’s gift to him. That’s how much he loves us.
He goes on to say what he wants for us- that we may see the glory of God as he sees it. He wants to share the Kingdom of God with us This is essentially a prayer in which Jesus appeals to the Father to share his divine son-ship with us. For Jesus says: “And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one.” In this way we are being offered the role of adopted sons and daughters of God.
That is an essential truth of our faith- that we are sons and daughters of Jesus who will share in the glory of God himself in the resurrected state after the Last Judgment. The glory that we have now as humans is a sharing in the glory of son-ship if we believe and follow Jesus.
Jesus opens this prayer to the Father by revealing to us how we might accept the offer of son-ship. For he says: “I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you.” First, we are have to believe in him; and second, we have to be unified. Our unity is established by membership in the Church, and by the effects of the Eucharist, Holy Communion, that we share in common each time we come to Mass.
It is good for all of us to reflect on the deep meanings of Jesus discourse. Consider these questions: Will I deny Jesus, hide from him, or even betray him going forward in my life? Or will I repent, as 11 of the Apostles did, believe in him, and accept his offer of son-ship? And will I act in unity through the Church to spread God’s offer by word and deed to all mankind.
That reflection, hopefully, is a beautiful prayer of Thanksgiving for Jesus prayer and love of us.
