Gospel

John 17:20-26

Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying:

"I pray not only for these,

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.

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.”

Reflection

This passage is Jesus praying to his father for you and for me. For everyone. Everyone who is called to be a disciple. One who fathoms the richness, the beauty, the awesomeness of who this God is who wants to dwell within us. And we are invited to dwell in him. And what we see in this unity is not just about our relationship with God.

It's our relationship with everything. With the world, with ourselves, with each other. Everything is one. That is the message that Jesus so deeply longs to reveal to all of us. There is no separation. There is no emptiness. It's all connected. It is all beautiful.

Closing Prayer

Father, we sometimes feel that we're alone in our longings and our needs. We wonder how we're going to find a solution to a problem. Help us to remember that through this connecting link of spirit, we can call upon all kinds of people and all kinds of things to inform us, to teach us, to hold us, to help us. Help us to feel this beautiful union. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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