May 20, 2010
Thursday of the Seventh Week of Easter
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, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me. John 17:20-23
Piety
Father, they are your gift to me. I wish that where I am they also may be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world. Righteous Father, the world also does not know you, but I know you, and they know that you sent me. I made known to them your name and I will make it known, that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them. John 17:24-26
Study
The last words of Jesus before his arrest, trial and execution make up the Gospel reading today.
As Jesus was God’s gift to us, Jesus offers us back to God as His gift to the Father. In teh spirit of teh true servant-leader which Jesus is, none of these prayer-words are about Jesus. Despite knowing what is going to transpire in the next 24 hours, all Jesus can think of are his friends – his immediate friends as well as people he does not even yet know “who will believe” in Him in the future.
Jesus prays that “the love with which you [The Father] loved me may be in them and I in them.” The “them” of this prayer certainly encompasses the holy lives of those who will throughout the years become our saints like St. Paul. It includes St. Francis. St. Benedict. St. Dominic. St. Theresa of Avila. St. Ignatius of Loyola. But it also includes Helen in Staten Island, NY. It includes Lovell in San Francisco. It includes Kathryn who is getting discharged from rehab today. It includes Rector Dave who is recovering from surgery. It includes Frances, a retired Sister of the Most Blessed Trinity who in retirement now works in a nursing home in the Alabama. It includes Placid, the abbot of a monastery in North Carolina. The prayer is for Regina, a missionary in Honduras and Sarah, a graduate student in Washington, DC. It includes you and me. In his final hour, Jesus prays to his Father for all of us.
Every day, Catholics around the world pray the Hail Mary. That prayer includes the petition, “Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.” That line is focused on asking Mary to intercede with and for us every day right up to the end of our days. As Jesus prepares for his execution, it would have been perfectly understandable if he prayed to the Father to be with him at the hour of his death. Instead, he prays not for himself but for us.
As we reflect on these final words, we also can match them up with the first words John tells us Jesus spoke in his public ministry. The soon-to-be disciples were following Jesus around and when Jesus noted that they were on his trail, the men posed a question: “Where are you staying?” Jesus replied, “Come and see.”
Now, in this last prayer, Jesus prays to stay with us. He wishes that “where I am they also may be with me.” Then he concludes by asking Our Father to grant that the love with which the Father so loved his only son now be showered upon us. “The love with which you loved me may (stay) in them and I in them.”
Action
http://www.mytimesdispatch.com/index.php/bobby/index/
As we reflect on Jesus’ last words to us, today I also read this amazing column. Thanks to my friend Cindy for bringing it to my attention.
(Before you click on the link, please get out your tissues. Even if you do not know Bobby Thalhimer or his late wife Lisa, you will be moved by their story.)
Do we not reflect on what those around us do to make our lives better every hour of every day? Instead of waiting until we are faced with writing our last letter, giving our last lecture, or saying our last good-bye, thank those who make your life richer every day.
My angel is my wife, just returned from her trip to Honduras. After nearly 31 years, she will still have me and hold me, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish until death us do part. Thank you, Beth!
