John 17:20-26

Acts 22:30; 23:6-11

Psalm 16:1-2a and 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11

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.”

Opening Prayer: Lord God, I am on a long journey to you and your Son in heaven. Your Son has given me a share in your glory and brings me to perfection so that, one day, I may behold the glory of your face. Guide me along my journey, protect me, and keep me safe.

Encountering the Word of God

1. Prayer for Unity: Today, we read the third section of Jesus’ high-priestly prayer. After praying for himself (John 17:1-5) and then for the preservation and consecration of his disciples (John 17:6-19), Jesus prays for their unity in the Church (John 17:20-26). The apostles will be sent out to gather all nations into the community and family of the Church. Peter has a special role in preserving and guarding the unity of God’s family on earth. Jesus indicates this role when he says to Simon Peter in another Gospel: “I have prayed that your own faith may not fail; and once you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:32).

2. Visible and Organizational Unity: In his prayer, Jesus envisions a unity that is not only spiritual but also one that is visible and organizational. The indivisible unity of the Trinity is the source and pattern of this ecclesial oneness. The world cannot be the source of the Church’s unity. The fallen world’s efforts tend toward disunion. “Inasmuch as the world is operative in the Church, in Christianity, it leads to schisms. Unity can only come from the Father through the Son. It has to do with the ‘glory’ that the Son gives: with his presence, granted through the Holy Spirit, which is the fruit of the Cross, the fruit of Jesus’ transformation through death and resurrection” (Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth: Vol. II, 95-96).

3. Salvation in Christ: The Church is born from Jesus’ prayer at the Last Supper. This prayer is more than words. It is the act by which he ‘sanctifies’ himself for the life of the world (see Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth: Vol. II, 101). There is only one Savior, Jesus Christ: “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved”‌ (Acts 4:12). The one universal gift of salvation is offered to all people by the Father through Jesus Christ and in the Spirit (see Ephesians 1:3-14). The Church that Jesus established is a salvific mystery: Jesus is in the Church, and the Church is in him. “Therefore, the fullness of Christ’s salvific mystery belongs also to the Church, inseparably united to her Lord Indeed, Jesus Christ continues his presence and his work of salvation in the Church and by means of the Church, which is his body” (Dominus Iesus, n. 16). 

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you grant your friends a share in your passion. You do this because you know it is the path that leads to eternal life. You eagerly desired the hour of your passion when you would glorify the Father, and will sustain me as I share in your passion and glorify God.

Living the Word of God: Do I regularly unite my sufferings to those of Christ? What have I suffered this past year for the sake of Jesus’ name? Can I offer that in union with Christ to the Father?