john 17:20
“I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word,”
Reflection
Again in the prayer of the Son to the Father, we read Jesus directly interceding to the Father on our behalf. He asks the Father for unity amongst his believers in accord with the unity of the Trinity. Jesus prays that we are brought to perfection and that the Father loves us as He does Jesus.
In this masterpiece of a prayer, Jesus demonstrates to us a few things. First, his words reveal a deep, intimate, union between him and the Father. At every moment of his life, Jesus remained aligned with the Father’s will, even unto death on the cross.
Another aspect of this prayer that is worth dwelling on is the love Jesus has for those who follow him. He is praying even at the very beginnings of the Church for unity, perhaps anticipating the division about to occur (i.e., Judas betraying him) as well as the divisions that would occur some 1500 years later (i.e., the Protestant Reformation). Clearly, Jesus wants us to follow him as one Church, not as many churches. How can we bridge the gap with our Christian brothers and sisters who are not apart of the Catholic Church?
Lastly, this passage from the prayer of Jesus exemplifies that Jesus sought to glorify the Father with his life. Do we glorify God with our lives? Do others sense we are Christians by how we live?
Let us follow the example of Jesus by living in communion with God through the Church. Let us glorify the Father through our lives.
Saint of the Day
St. Boniface: 675 – 754
“In her voyage across the ocean of this world, the Church is like a great ship being pounded by the waves of life’s different stresses. Our duty is not to abandon ship but to keep her on her course.”
St. Boniface
The Healing Word 