GOSPEL READING:
John 17:1-111 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him power over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work which you gave me to do; 5 and now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory which I had with you before the world was made. 6 "I have manifested your name to the men whom you gave me out of the world; they were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you; 8 for I have given them the words which you gave me, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I am praying for them; I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours; 10 all mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 And now I am no more in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.
Meditation: In his Last Supper discourse with his beloved
disciples Jesus speaks of his glory and the glory of his Father.
What is this glory? It is the cross which Jesus speaks of here and
the willing offering of his life for us. How does the cross reveal
this glory? In the cross God reveals the breadth of his great love
for sinners and the power of Jesus' redemptive sacrifice which
cancels the debt of sin and reverses the curse of our condemnation
(Romans 8:1). Jesus gave his Father the supreme honor and glory
through his obedience and willingness to go to the cross for our
sake. In times of defense the greatest honor belongs not to those
who fought and survived but to those who gave the supreme
sacrifice of their own lives for their fellow citizens.The Lord
Jesus freely and willingly offered up his life out of obedience to
his Father and love for us.
Jesus reveals the glory of God to us
Jesus speaks of the Father bringing glory to the Son through the
great mystery of the Incarnation - the eternal Word who became
flesh for our sake (John 1:14) - and the Cross of Christ which won
for us pardon, freedom, and new life in the Holy Spirit. God the
Father gave us his only begotten Son to set us free from slavery
to sin, guilt, and condemnation. His sacrificial death brings us
new life - the abundant life of peace and joy which God wishes to
share with each one of us. There is no greater proof of God's love
for each and every person on the face of the earth than the Cross
of Jesus Christ. In the cross we see a new way of love - a love
that is merciful, sacrificial, and generous beyond measure.
Jesus offers abundant life without end
Jesus offers us eternal life. What is eternal life? It is more
than simply a life without end or an eternal state of being.
Science and medicine look for ways to extend the duration of human
life - but God offers us something vastly greater and more
surpassing than a simple extension of physical life. Eternal life
is qualitative more than quantitative. To have eternal life is to
have the very life of God within us. When we possess eternal life
we experience here and now something of God's majesty, glory, and
holiness which he shares with us. Through the gift and working of
the Holy Spirit, God fills us with the abundant fruit of his
peace, joy and love.
We can know God personally
Jesus also speaks of the knowledge of God. Jesus tells his
disciples that they can know the only true God. Knowledge of God
is not simply limited to knowing something about God, but we can
know God personally and be united with God in a personal
relationship of love and friendship. The essence of Christianity,
and what makes it distinct from Judaism and other religions, is
the personal and experiential knowledge of God as our eternal
Father - the one who knew us before creation (Ephesians 1:4 and
Romans 8:29) and who knit us in our mother's womb (Psalm 139:13
and Jeremiah 1:5). Jesus makes it possible for each of us to
personally know God as our Father. To see Jesus is to see
what God is like.
A unity of love that endures forever
In Jesus Christ we see the perfect love of God - a God who cares
intensely and who yearns over men and women, loving them to the
point of laying down his life for them upon the Cross. Jesus is
the revelation of God - a God who loves us completely,
unconditionally and perfectly. Do you hunger to know God
personally and to be united with the Father in his Son, our Lord
Jesus Christ, through the unity of the Holy Spirit who dwells with
us? The Lord Jesus invites each of us to enter more deeply into a
personal relationship of love and oneness of mind, heart, and
spirit with the eternal Father, Son, and Holy Spirit who created
us in love for love.
If only I possessed the grace, good Jesus, to be utterly at one with you! Amidst all the variety of worldly things around me, Lord, the only thing I crave is unity with you. You are all my soul needs. Unite, dear friend of my heart, this unique little soul of mine to your perfect goodness.You are all mine; when shall I be yours? Lord Jesus, my beloved, be the magnet of my heart; clasp, press, unite me for ever to your sacred heart. You have made me for yourself; make me one with you. Absorb this tiny drop of life into the ocean of goodness whence it came. (Prayer of Francis de Sales, 1567-1622)
Psalm 27:1,4,7-8
1 The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
4 One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple.
7 Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud, be gracious to me and answer me!
8 You have said, "Seek my face." My heart says to you, "Your face, LORD, do I seek."
Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: Eternity will be ours when faith sees, by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"We are distanced from eternity to the extent that we are
changeable. But eternal life is promised to us through the truth.
Our faith, however, stands as far apart from the clear knowledge
of the truth as mortality does from eternity. At the present we
put faith in things done in time on our account, and by that faith
itself we are cleansed. In this way, when we have come to sight,
as truth follows faith, so eternity may follow on mortality. Our
faith will become truth, then, when we have attained to that which
is promised to us who believe. And that which is promised to us is
eternal life. And the Truth - not that which shall come to be
according to how our faith shall be, but that truth that always
exists because eternity is in it - the Truth then has said, 'And
this is life eternal, that they might know you the only true God,
and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.' When our faith sees and
comes to be truth, then eternity shall possess our now changed
mortality." (excerpt from ON THE TRINITY 4.18.24.34)
