DAILY GRACE
May 28, 2020, Thursday of the Seventh Week of Easter
Scripture: John 17:20-26
‘I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
‘Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.’
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Meditation
“‘As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us . . .”
Today’s text is the final segment of the prayer of Jesus at the Last Supper. Previously he prayed for grace and strength for his disciples. Now he looks ahead in time to all those who will come to know him through their witness. We stand in the ranks of those who have heard and come to believe “through their word.”
As we listen to this heartfelt prayer, we can only feel that Jesus is giving us a glimpse of his loving relationship with the Father. For his followers, Jesus asks the gift of unity. And this prayer bore copious fruits among the early Christians, who were known by their love for one another. It was a common practice for those of greater means to willingly place their material goods at the service of all those in need.
But Jesus is not content with asking only for unity and harmony in the community of believers. He wants even more to draw us right into the union he shares with the Father. “. . . I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one.” Here we stand in the realm of mystery. As he prepares to return to the Father, it is as if Jesus cannot bear to be separated from us. “Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am. Earlier, in chapter 15, Jesus spoke of remaining in him, or of abiding. Here again, Jesus seems to reveal his hunger for intimacy with us, an intimacy that involves our participation in his union with the Father.
Prayer
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for all those who, by their teaching and example, have shared their faith and have helped me to come to know you. Grant that all Christians might be drawn into that oneness with you that you pray for. I welcome you into my inner sanctuary. May your oneness with the Father be a oneness that I embrace so that I may be fruitful in love for the life of the world.
Contemplation
“May they also be in us.”