The readings for the Seventh Sunday of Easter may be found at:
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/051726-Sunday
This week, the evangelist St. John
invites us into one of the most intimate moments
in all of Sacred Scripture.
Into the longest prayer of Jesus
recorded in the Gospels.
What the Church traditionally calls
His High Priestly Prayer.
And He prays it
on Holy Thursday,
at the very moment when His “hour” has come.
An hour
that will mean His suffering and His death.
But in John’s Gospel,
the Cross is also the place of glory.
Because on the Cross,
Jesus shows us the depth of God’s love for us.
He says,
“Father, the hour has come.
Glorify your Son,
so that the Son may glorify you.”
Jesus is not asking for glory
the way the world understands it.
He is not asking for recognition.
He is not asking for power.
He is not asking to escape the Cross.
He is asking
to complete the mission His Father gave Him.
And then Jesus does something beautiful.
He prays for His disciples.
He says,
“I pray for them - for the ones you have given me.”
Think about that.
On the night before He dies,
knowing what is coming,
Jesus is praying for His friends.
For Peter, who will deny Him.
For Thomas, who will doubt.
For the others, who will run away.
And still,
He loves them.
Still,
He prays for them.
Still,
He entrusts them to the Father.
And that -
that should give us all hope.
Because Jesus knows our weakness, too.
He knows our fears.
He knows the ways we fall short.
He knows our doubts.
He knows how we drift.
And still - He prays for us.
The heart of this Gospel is not that we are perfect,
not that we are deserving
because of what we do or don’t do,
The heart of this Gospel is that we belong to Him.
Jesus says to the Father,
“They belonged to you, and you gave them to me”
That is who we are.
Broken, sure.
Blessed, absolutely.
Just like the bread on this altar
that will be transformed into the Eucharist in a few minutes time.
Broken and blessed.
We belong to the Father.
We belong to Jesus.
And because we belong to Him,
we are never alone.
That is His prayer for us.
Not that life will be easy.
Not that we will never suffer.
But that the Father will protect us,
keep us faithful,
and hold us together as one.
So today, let us take this Gospel - personally.
Let us internalize its message.
Jesus is praying for His Church.
Jesus is praying for His disciples.
Jesus is praying for us.
So that we may live as people who truly belong to Him,
so that in our words,
in our choices,
in our love,
and in our unity,
the world may see the glory of God.
But how do we do this?
How do we actually live this Gospel
after we leave this church today?
How do we do it this week?
To live this Gospel in a very simple way,
maybe we can start our days with a simple prayer,
“Jesus, thank You for praying for me.
Help me stay close to You today.”
During the day, maybe we try to do one thing that reflects God’s love,
be patient,
forgive someone,
help someone quietly.
pray before reacting in anger
encourage someone who is struggling
Maybe spend a few minutes in prayer, even for just 5 minutes,
before the Blessed Sacrament,
after Mass,
in silence at home or in the car
speak to Jesus honestly, like a friend, about our fears, struggles, and hopes.
If we feel weak or things are just too hard,
we can remember that
Jesus prayed for Peter
even knowing Peter would fail.
So when we struggle this week, let us not give up.
Let us, turn back to Him.
Because the heart of today’s Gospel is simple -
Jesus is praying for us.
And because of that,
No matter how hard life becomes,
we are never alone.
Because Christ
is praying
To His Father,
To Our Father,
for us.
