In today’s Gospel reading we listen to Christ pray to the Father for the sake of all who believe in Him
Reflections on the readings for the Seventh Sunday of Easter (May 29, 2022): ACTS 7:55-60; PS 97:1-2,6-7,9; REV 22:12-14,16-17,20; JN 17:20-26
MISSIO offers “Preaching Mission,” as a homily help, providing connections to mission from the readings of Sundays, Feast Days and Holy Days.
Both as a Church and as individuals, we are joined with Christ and enjoy the same divine love. If this seems overwhelming, it should be.
In today’s liturgy from the Gospel according to St. John we hear the last words of what has been called the High Priestly Prayer that Jesus offered at the Last Supper. He is facing His imminent death and He wants the disciples with Him, and all those yet to come, to appreciate the love between the Father and the Son -- and what it means to them. “Father, they are Your gift to Me. I wish that where I am they also may be with Me, that they may see Your 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). The union between Christ and the Eternal Father is certainly beyond simple human understanding. However, Jesus wants His followers to grasp that He is revealing His Father to us through the love they share. More than that, we are called to share in the same loving unity. This love brought our Savior to us. This love brought Him to the cross. And this love brings us into communion with God, the Holy Trinity. When Jesus says that He “made known to them Your name and I will make it known” He assures us of the gifts of the Holy Spirit that will be at work in the souls of all who believe in Him.
Both as a Church and as individuals, we are joined with Christ and enjoy the same divine love. If this seems overwhelming, it should be. As He said these words, Jesus was hours away from having His back lashed, His flesh pierced, and His blood spilt so that we could share in His glory. In receiving the gift of Baptism, we open ourselves not just to being cleansed from sin, but to dying to sin as well. By joining with our Lord’s own life and death, our own lives are saved from eternal death. By believing in Jesus as our Savior and the Son of God, we commit ourselves to giving with His generosity, forgiving with His humility, and loving with His mercy. And, like Him, we are called to embrace every person with respect and compassion, and with a desire to serve and to heal. This is what it means to be brought to perfection. This is our life.
