Jn 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.”
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved. http://www.usccb.org/bible/approved-translations
Jesus Risen and Alive
Knowing that his end was near, Jesus prayed. He prayed for those closest to him, his disciples. He prayed for those who have yet to come to faith because of their witness.
Throughout his life, he had shared the union with His Father through frequent prayer away and witnessed through His deeds of healing, forgiveness and empowerment. The good news of Jesus had spread and soon his disciples must take on the preaching and the witness that will make us all one.
Heaven knows, we are still not one. So take courage as the disciples did, draw close to God in prayer but then act to build unity among all people through word and deed.
As the Easter season ends, has Jesus become more close, more alive, through my prayer and reflection? How do I witness to the risen Jesus in my everyday life?
—Marge Sears is a writer and parishioner at Gesu Parish, Detroit MI.
Prayer
Life-giving Jesus, pour the graces of Easter deep into our hearts. Send your Holy Spirit deep into our hearts so that your Easter gifts give us strength and hope all our days. Amen.