Friday, May 14, 2021

The Highest Priestly Prayer

 Deacon Kevin Gingras

May 26, 2021, 7th Sunday of Easter

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/051621-Sunday.cfm


Who doesn’t love love?  I love love.  We have heard a lot about love lately in the readings.  Why?  We are still within the Easter season and this is the season in which we celebrate God’s incredible love for us more than ever.  God sent his son to earth, not to condemn us but to love us, to save us.  His son died demonstrating God’s immense love for us.


In today’s Gospel we read from John 17 - entitled The Prayer of Jesus or Jesus’ Prayer for his Disciples.  This whole chapter 17 of John’s Gospel has also been called the “highest priestly prayer.”


Now the first thing we need to determine is who Jesus' disciples are. Who does this prayer apply to? In the New Testament, the word disciple is most often applied to Jesus’ Apostles.  In our first reading, we see that Matthias was counted with the eleven Apostles after Judas’ betrayal to get the number to 12 again so it would match the 12 tribes of Israel.   A disciple, however, is meant to be a broader statement as we see in John 4:

And now it became known to Jesus that the Pharisees had been told, Jesus is making more disciples and baptizing a greater number than John.

Today in time, any follower of Jesus is a disciple of Jesus.  That means me and you, all of us, everyone on earth, as a matter of fact, is called to be a disciple of Jesus.


Now let’s break down the “highest priestly prayer” looking at each petition in order.


  1. Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me - Jesus will soon be dying and then ascending into heaven, he knows this.  He is asking his and our heavenly father to shepherd us as Jesus did while on earth. Jesus knows we will need watching over still!

  2. So that they may be one just as we are one - The Son and the Father are one in unity.  We, as a Catholic Church, must also present as one.  We need this part of the prayer now more than ever! The discord that is rampant now, even within the Catholic Church is crazy, we need to correct that and become one!

  3. So that they may share my joy completely - I’ve been told in the past by a very wise priest that you can only know true joy through Jesus.  Here Jesus makes it very clear that he desires us to share that joy with him in its entirety!  What a beautiful part of this prayer!

  4. I do not ask that you take them out of the world - Jesus knows that his disciples will face hard times in the world.  He isn’t asking for relief from that, he is asking for them to have strength for these hardships. We too will face hardships, following Jesus doesn't mean life will be easy, it means we have somebody to lean on, to go to when life gets difficult. Place your troubles at the foot of the cross, give them to Jesus.

  5. That you keep them from the evil one - Satan is always busy trying to steal souls from Heaven.  If anybody knows this it’s Jesus.  Satan was bold enough to pounce when he thought Jesus was hungry and weak after His 40 days in the desert.  Jesus held strong, we must hold strong as well!

  6. Consecrate them in truth - Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth?” following  Jesus’ statement that it is the Son of God who testifies to the truth and everyone who belongs to that truth listens to His voice.  Read the New Testament, know what Jesus taught, learn from Him - be consecrated in the truth, the truth that is held within the Bible, and the truth that is cared for by the Catholic Church.


Once we have that truth, joy, and unity from this prayer we can’t keep it boxed up to ourselves!  We are called to go out into the world and share that truth, joy, and unity.   On May 23 we will celebrate Pentecost, where the Holy Spirit came down like tongues of fire and they were given the gifts of the Holy Spirit in an incredibly special way.


The Church needs a new Pentecost now.  Don’t let Jesus’ prayer for us be in vain!  When we do finally open fully it’s up to you to help us gather the flock back when we do!  We can’t do it alone, we need you!  If you know somebody who has been away, is waiting for the dispensation to be lifted approach them now.  Ask them back and more importantly pray, pray that those who have been away will return.  Only here, in church, can we get the full sacrificial nature of the Mass.  Only here in the church can we receive the true body of Christ.  Only here can we really meet that joy that Christ prays we will obtain.

Let's also try to live by the words of this message from Pope St. John Paul II:

“The Church of Christ is always, so to speak, in a situation of Pentecost: she is always gathered in the Upper Room in prayer, and at the same time, driven by the powerful wind of the Spirit, she is always on the streets preaching”


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