Prayer

 

The Spiritual Waiting Room

Prayer

Jesus     Father

Believing     Glorifying     Being

To Perfection As One

Word

(photo and poem by Kathy McNamara)

Scripture:   John 17: 20 to 24a

Fixing His attention on heaven, Jesus prayed, saying: "Holy Father, I pray not only for my apostles, but for all of those who will come to faith because of their word,

 so that all may be as one,

 just as you are one in me 

and I am one in you, 

that they may also be united as one in us,

so that the world may have faith

that you sent me.

I have shared the glory you gave me with them,

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 realize that

you sent me,

and that you loved them

even as you loved me.

Father, they are your gift to me.

Reflection

The importance of being one!

Jesus is sharing His life with the Father. It is a life of deep unity---a unity so profound that it is hard to understand and comprehend.

What would be a good comparison?

The type of unity Jesus is talking about is similar to that unity in a relationship when we can look at a friend's face and know something is up (either for good or ill) without our friend uttering a word.

We know immediately because we have spent time with our friend, shared deeply, laughed and cried much, and are comfortable being silent together.

We are one.

It feels good. It feels special. We rejoice in that unity.

Jesus stresses the importance of unity because of the responsibility of the apostles to share the word. It would be confusing to people if the apostles started to share different messages as they went about preaching.

When that did happen in the Church, it was necessary to bring the leaders together to clarify the message and to achieve the unity that Jesus prays for.

Jesus tells us that the way to achieve that unity is to stay rooted in our relationship with the Father and the Son through prayer. Jesus sends us the Holy Spirit to lead us to that all important union.

Jesus tries to bring us to perfection as one. It is impossible to achieve perfection by ourselves. We know this only too well as we try hard to achieve something in our personal lives and fall short due to poor communication or lack of a particular skill or talent.

Jesus leads us to that perfection through His Love for us. Jesus has so much Love for us that He even speaks of us as a GIFT from the Father.

Imagine that! You and I are GIFTS for Jesus. 

It is overwhelming to think that Jesus, who has everything, could possibly think of us as GIFTS.

We are GIFTS because we have been Loved by the Father. We come into this world through the Love of the Father and we journey to the Father in and through that very same Love.

Remain in that Love.

Always!

1. Why does Jesus stress the importance of unity?

2. Is it possible to achieve unity in a divided world and a divided Church?

3. How can we achieve the unity that Jesus prays for?

4. Do you see yourself as a GIFT for Jesus?

5. What does Kathy's photo say to you?