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."
The Gospel of the Lord Praise be to you, Lord Jesus Christ
REFLECTION
"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"
It had been 3 months since I had last seen her but there was a change. Her love for Jesus was palpable. You could see it, feel it and most of all it was shared with all. I wanted what she had: this unique and intimate relationship between the Son and all those who believe in Him.
In today's Gospel Jesus prays for us that we may all be one as the Father in Him and He in the Father. But that we, too, would be one in them! He has shared all with us, the glory and the dignity and the love of the Father.
The Father gifted us to His Son, not because He had to or that He expected us to respond to this generosity, but given to the Son whom He loved because He loved us as He loved His Son. A gift is far more precious than a present as it is given from pure love, unmerited and even undeserving but definitely with "no strings attached".
From this divine love relationship between Father and Son, the holy Spirit, who dwells in us, proceeds. He brings this love with more gifts to us, so that the love with which the Father loves the Son and the Son's love for His Father may be in us and we in them.
Jesus' perfect love and union with the Father existed from all eternity. This perfect love is shared with us and we are meant to share with others!
Prepare for Pentecost: go to confession, pray the Dekaena to the Holy Spirit by St Alphonsus Liguori, read and meditate on the Gospel of John, attend daily Mass with reception of the Body and Blood of Jesus, daily Adoration and give the Holy Spirit permission to transform us not only with His gifts but into gifts of beauty given out of love between the Divine persons.
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