"Speaking about his disciples, Jesus said : «Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.»"
Homily :
"Jesus said : «Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.»"
On the day before His Passion, on the evening of Good Thursday, Jesus spoke these words to the Father. They belong to what is called "The Speech After the Last Supper." The Church chose today for the reading of this particular Gospel, during a time in which we are preparing for the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, in order to show us the relationship
between the celebration of the Eucharist and the coming of the Spirit of God in the Church of Christ. This relationship is demonstrated by these words of the Lord Jesus, "Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are." After having consecrated the bread and the wine into His Body and Blood, Christ then
prays so that all His disciples, the members of his Mystical Body, are one in the Trinity, and also in the Holy Spirit.
"While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I come to You,"
If there is a relationship between the celebration of the Eucharist and the coming of the Holy Spirit in the Church, that means that the Spirit who must unite all the disciples of Christ comes into the Church only after the Sacrifice of the Cross is actualized again for us by the Eucharistic celebration. That's why Jesus associates closely in his speech the union of the members of His Mystical Body with His supreme Sacrifice which was performed for all on the wood of the Cross. He then says to His Father, "But now I come to You." The departure of Christ on the Cross is the condition of the coming of the Holy Spirit. "If I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you." (Jn. 16, 7) The coming of the Holy Spirit in the Church depends upon the departure of Christ on the Cross and upon His departure into Heaven on the day of His Ascension.
"I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world."
Yes! If the Holy Spirit comes into the Church by the Eucharist, it is in order to transform the world by the Church, it is in order to make spiritual those who are still of the earth, it is in order to elevate the minds of all the members of Mystical Body of Christ. Christ is not of this world, nor are the Christians, because the Holy Spirit who guides them is the One who
comes to defend them from the enemy--the evil one, as Jesus calls him. Yes! Once again, the Holy Spirit comes into the Church only in accordance with the redeeming Sacrifice of the Cross. If all the members of the Church are in communion with Christ, it is only through communion with the Sacrifice of Calvary actualized today by the celebration of the Eucharist.
"Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth."
The mission of Christ must be taught within the Church. There are not two missions--the one of Christ and the one of the Church. There is only one-- the one of Christ in and for His Church. Each one of the members of the Mystical Body of Christ is called to participate in his own mission of Christ; each one is called to spread the Truth that is Christ himself! That's why the Lord says to his Father: "Sanctify them by Your truth." If it is true that Christ, by the proof of the Cross, gives testimony to the Truth that He is Himself, the Church must possess this same proof too, or, rather, the Church must participate in the sole redeeming Sacrifice of
Christ. Because the Holy Spirit himself is the Spirit of Truth (cf. Jn. 16, 13), and He won't come into the Church unless the Church testifies to the truth; and He will always come as long as the Church always professes the truth and continues in its fidelity to the truth.
"«For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.»"
The Lord Jesus is consecrated to God His Father on Mount Calvary so that all His disciples, until the end times, might possess the strength and the power of consecrating to God, giving testimony to the Truth, and professing openly their attachment to the Son of God. May the Most Holy Virgin Mary, who is the first of all the believers and their pattern in Christ, help us all to receive communion with dignity today. Let us all continue to lovingly participate in the Passion of the Lord so that the Holy Spirit might continue to dwell among us in the Church!
(English version reviewed and corrected by Diana Shertenlieb, Atlanta)