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Homily for the seventh
Easter Sunday - Year C - Jn. 17:20-26
by
Father Daniel Meynen
" Jesus said praying his
Father: «I do not pray for these only, but also for those who
believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as
thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so
that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. The glory which thou
hast given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are
one, I in them and thou in me, that they may become perfectly one, so
that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them even
as thou hast loved me.
" «Father, I desire
that they also, whom thou hast given me, may be with me where I am, to
behold my glory which thou hast given me in thy love for me before the
foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world has not known
thee, but I have known thee; and these know that thou hast sent me. I
made known to them thy name, and I will make it known, that the love
with which thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.» "
Homily:
" Jesus said, praying to
his Father: «I do not pray for these only, but also for those who
believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as
thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so
that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.» "
Today, in many countries,
we celebrate the mass for the seventh Easter Sunday, while in other
countries, it is the feast of the Ascension that we celebrate. In both
these cases, today's mystery is the same: the departure of the Lord
into Heaven and the expectation of the Holy Spirit in communal prayer.
Indeed, before going up to Heaven, the Lord Jesus had instructed his
disciples to return to Jerusalem and wait there for the coming of the
Holy Spirit: "As for you, wait patiently in the city until you are
clothed with power from on high." (Lk. 24:49)
The Spirit is to come and
the disciples of Jesus wait for him with a holy impatience, because it
is he who is the Comforter, it is he who is the Powerful one, the one
who worked miracles among the people whom God chose, and notably in
Mary, the Mother of Jesus, the one whom the Holy Spirit himself chose
for his Spouse! Jesus having gone up to Heaven, the Holy Spirit is
going to come, and all wait for him, praying with one heart: "All these
with one accord devoted themselves to prayer, together with the women
and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers." (Ac. 1:14)
Besides, how could it be otherwise? How could the disciples, the
Apostles of Christ, not be united amongst themselves while they await
the coming of the one who is to perfect and strengthen their unity?
Jesus prayed to his Father
in order that all his disciples be one, and his prayer is effective: it
brings about what it expresses. For in this case, we are not dealing
with simple human prayer: Jesus is at once both God and Man, and when
he prays, his request is inevitably accomplished. His prayer, in the
present case, is the expression of his command, of his personal order:
"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another." (Jn.
13:34)
If all the disciples are
united with each other in order to await the coming of the Holy Spirit,
it's because they love each other, thus carrying out the order of
Christ. Now, Jesus has said it clearly: "By this all men will know that
you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (Jn. 13:35)
"The glory which thou hast given me I have given to them, that they may
be one even as we are one, I in them and thou in me, that they may
become perfectly one, so that the world may know that thou hast sent me
and hast loved them even as thou hast loved me."
" «Father, I desire
that they also, whom thou hast given me, may be with me where I am, to
behold my glory which thou hast given me in thy love for me before the
foundation of the world.» "
The unity of the disciples
of Christ is not limited to those who are on earth. No, it also, and
especially, extends to those who are in Heaven, but first of all it
extends to Jesus himself, the firstborn of a multitude of brethren (cf.
Rm. 8:29) "The glory which thou hast given me I have given to them,
that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and thou in me, that
they may become perfectly one." Also, when the Holy Spirit will come,
he will confirm not only the union of all the disciples with each
other, but also, and especially, the union of Jesus with each disciple:
the Holy Spirit is the one who fortifies our union to Christ Jesus.
The Holy Spirit doesn't
come to do all this alone. He is himself very closely united to Mary,
the Mother of Jesus. So it is with her, and through her, that the
Spirit of God achieves the union of the disciples of the Lord. For,
ever since the Incarnation, the union between the Holy Spirit and Mary
is so strong and indissoluble that nothing can ever dissolve it and it
can never lack for anything. So, on the day of Pentecost, all that Mary
receives for herself, she gives back to all the gathered disciples,
co-operating in this way in the work of union accomplished by the Holy
Spirit in person.
Today, let us, too, prepare
our hearts for the coming of the Holy Spirit! Let us receive Jesus in
us, with all his love! Let us ask Mary to help us in our task: she is a
Mother to us all!
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