John 17:1-11a

Acts 20:17-27

Psalm 68:10-11, 20-21

John 17:1-11a

Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said,

“Father, the hour has come.

Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you,

just as you gave him authority over all people,

so that your son may give eternal life to all you gave him.

Now this is eternal life,

that they should know you, the only true God,

and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.

I glorified you on earth

by accomplishing the work that you gave me to do.

Now glorify me, Father, with you,

with the glory that I had with you before the world began.

“I revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world.

They belonged to you, and you gave them to me,

and they have kept your word.

Now they know that everything you gave me is from you,

because the words you gave to me I have given to them,

and they accepted them and truly understood that I came from you,

and they have believed that you sent me.

I pray for them.

I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me,

because they are yours, and everything of mine is yours

and everything of yours is mine,

and I have been glorified in them.

And now I will no longer be in the world,

but they are in the world, while I am coming to you.”

Opening Prayer: Lord God, you have sent your Son into this fallen world and consecrated him as our eternal high priest. He has mediated a New Covenant through the shedding of his blood. Bring me more deeply into this covenant and purify my heart with the blood of your Son.

Encountering the Word of God

1. Jesus’ Prayer and the Day of Atonement: At the Last Supper, Jesus turns his attention from his disciples (John 13-16) to his heavenly Father (John 17). He prays to his Father in the hour of his exaltation and glorification. His prayer on Holy Thursday is inseparable from his sacrifice on Good Friday, from his ‘passing over’ to the Father to whom he is consecrated (see CCC, 2747). In and through the prayer, Jesus takes upon himself the role of the new high priest. Just as the old high priest, on the Day of Atonement, made expiation first for himself, and then for the other priests, and finally for the people of God, Jesus, as the new high priest, structures his prayer in the same way. He prays first for himself as high priest, then for his priestly apostles, and then for the new people of God (see Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth: Vol. II, 77-78). As both priest and victim, Jesus first prays for himself. Since Jesus didn’t have to make expiation for his own sins, his prayer for himself is a request for his glorification and exaltation in his hour. “The glorification that Jesus asks for himself as High Priest, is the entry into full obedience to the Father, an obedience that leads to his fullest filial condition: ‘And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory which I had with you before the world was made’ (John 17:5). This readiness and this request are the first act of the new priesthood of Jesus, which is a total gift of himself on the Cross and on the Cross itself — the supreme act of love — he is glorified because love is the true glory, the divine glory” (Pope Benedict XVI,  January 25, 2012).

2. The Glorification of Jesus’ Human Nature: The goal of the Day or Jewish Feast of Atonement was “to restore to Israel, after the misdeeds of the previous year, to its character as a ‘holy people,’ to lead it back once more to its designated position as God’s people in the midst of the world. … In this sense it has to do with the innermost purpose of the whole of creation: to open up a space for response to God’s love, to his holy will” (Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth: Vol. II, 78). In the first part of the prayer, Jesus sanctifies himself and asks the Father to glorify him. As true God, Jesus already possessed divine glory and did not lack it in any way. What happens here is that Jesus asks the Father “to transform his humanity with the divine glory through the events of this hour and so reveal the deity of the Incarnate Son” (Wright and Martin, The Gospel of John, 278).

3. Bringing the Day of Atonement to Fulfillment: By sanctifying himself as high priest, Jesus obtains the sanctification of those who are his: first, the sanctification of his Apostles, who will minister as priests in the world; second, the sanctification of those who will believe in him. Jesus’ high-priestly prayer and his eventual Ascension into heaven bring the Day of Atonement to its fulfillment and consummation. Jesus accomplishes what the Day of Atonement looked forward to – the reconciliation of God and humanity. With this reconciliation, humanity can share in the divine, eternal life for which it was created.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, eternal and merciful high priest, I thank you for offering yourself as the pleasing victim to make atonement for my sins and those of my brothers and sisters. As you reign at God’s right hand, look down with favor on me as I walk toward you and my heavenly home.

Living the Word of God: How can I model my prayer on that of Jesus? How do I pray for myself, for my family, and for others? Am I asking for the gift of holiness? Am I asking for protection and unity?