Today’s Reflection
Gospel: Jn 17: 20-26
May 25, 2023 | Thursday

Today’s Gospel

I pray not only for these. But also for those who through their word will believe in me. May they all be one, as you Father are in me and I am in you. May they be one in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

I have given them the glory you have given me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. Thus they shall reach perfection in unity; and the world shall know that you have sent me, and that I have loved them, just as you loved me.

Father, since you have given them to me, I want them to be with me where I am, and see the glory you gave me, for you loved me before the foundation of the world.

Righteous Father, the world has not known you, but I have known you, and these have known that you have sent me. As I revealed your name to them, so will I continue to reveal it, so that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and I also may be in them.”

In today’s passage, Jesus continues His prayer for His disciples. Clearly, He was concerned about them and their welfare. Jesus had experienced the tension and
conflict that arose among His disciples at times. He knew that the path ahead of them would be painful and difficult. He also realized that if they were divided or at
odds with one another, they would not be able to carry out His mission. Jesus prayed not only for his disciples, but he also prayed for all who would believe in Him,
no matter what century or nation the believers would live in. Jesus longs for you and me to be one with Him and with God, just as He longed for His disciples to
experience this loving unity.

Can you remember a time in your life when you had a deep and loving sense of Jesus being present with you? Take a moment and remember that time. What
emotions did you experience? Awe, joy, confusion, or perhaps elation? These moments of intimacy with Jesus are gifts and grace. We cannot manufacture these
experiences. However, we can open ourselves to them and we can ask to be graced with such love and peace. Today, may we be open and attentive to the ways Jesus
may come to us. At times, Jesus comes in the most unexpected people or small happenings. Stay alert and be watchful!/Vulnerasti, 2023