Word to the Wise
Thursday, May 12, 2016 - 7th Week of Easter - Thurs
[Acts 22:30; 23:6-11 and John 17:20-26]"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." [John]
In these lines from the "high priestly prayer" of Jesus, we hear him pray not only for those of us who are baptized and believe in him as the one whom God has sent, but also for those whom we might bring to faith by our own evangelizing efforts. I try to keep this in mind as I preach. I am not working alone. The Lord prays for the listeners and the Spirit opens minds and hearts.
Jesus goes on in today's passage to refer to his disciples as "your gift to me." When we accept Jesus as the one whom the Father has sent, we enter into a spiritual intimacy that is the greatest love. Pope Benedict XVI, in the jointly written (with Pope Francis) encyclical, LUMEN FIDEI, calls faith a response to a love greater than we have ever known. It is not merely an intellectual assent to a list of propositionis or statements. Jesus shows that love in his "high priestly prayer." What he is about to undergo, he will do for us and for all those with whom we share our faith. AMEN