And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them

 "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.  And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:  I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.  Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.  O righteous Father!  The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me.  And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."

- John 17:20-26

In recent readings for this week, we have been going through Jesus' High Priestly Prayer, which He prayed at the Last Supper, just prior to the time He would be arrested (beginning with Thursday's reading).  Yesterday, we read that Jesus continued:   "I pray for them.  I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are yours.  And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them.  Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You.  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.  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."

 "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.  And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:  I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me."  My study bible says that those who will believe includes the Church in every generation.  All the faithful participate in the life and glory of the Trinity.  It says that Christians enjoy two kinds of unity:  with God and with one another, where the latter is rooted in the former.  As we bear witness through our own capacity to reflect the light of Christ, so "the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me."

"Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.  O righteous Father!  The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me.  And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."   We hear in the prayer Christ's desire that all faithful "may be with Me where I am" so that we may behold His glory from the Father.  My study bible comments that the ultimate goal of Christ's prayer, and even of life itself, is for the love of the Father to dwell in each person.

In this prayer, frequently called the High Priestly Prayer, Jesus prayed first for Himself, then for the apostles, and finally for all those who will come to believe in Him.  We note first the tremendous unity He expresses.  Several times He prays "that they all may be one."  But each time, it is with a particular property of the relationship Christ has with the Father.  First, through the word given first from the Father, which He has given to the apostles and which they in turn will give to the world.  Next, through the glory which the Father has shared with the Son, and in turn the Son shared with His followers.   And finally, a depth of unity through love.  We note, also, how glory, perfection, and love are somehow united in Christ's prayer.  We are meant, in Christ's words here, not simply to participate in His life, but in the fullness of life in the Father as well -- a kind of unity not possible except through God's work in us, through grace and the life of spirit.  It is also at the Last Supper that Jesus teaches the apostles that He will pray to the Father and the Father will send the Spirit:  the One who "will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you . . . and testify of Me" (see John 14:16, 26; 15:26).  In this sense, we know that Father, Son, and Spirit all dwell in us and work within and through us to create a unity that is not possible except through this spiritual reality.  Through it all, there is an expression of deep love that is the true flavor or character of this unity.  Jesus wants us all to be with Him, He wants us all to be one with Him, but most of all He wants us to know the Father's love that He knows, and to be unified through that love.  In that love is, in fact, all the rest of our faith and its work in us.  It is that love that grows us in the spiritual life, in closeness to God, and more deeply toward the glory and the perfection of which He speaks in this prayer.   It is that love, in effect, that reveals to us the possibilities we contain for its expression, through the fruits of the spirit, through growth in humility, compassion, forbearance, and all the rest -- and into a capacity to discard and forego, even sacrifice, whatever it is that stands in the way of that growth.  This is the process into which He consecrates the apostles, and us in turn, which is revealed through this prayer.  It is this process which St. Paul reveals through his letters, when he teaches that "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law (Galatians 5:22-23)."  But, knowing the true reality of Christ's prayer, St. Paul teaches as well that without love, there is nothing else.  In 1 Corinthians 13 St. Paul gives his beautiful sermon left to us on the reality of love, and how love ties all the rest.   St. John, our Evangelist, leaves us a letter in which he teaches that God is love (1 John 4:8).  In all this, there is something of which we can be certain, and that is the power of love as given to us as a gift, and working in us to reveal what love is and does, and teaching us how to dwell and live and to better express and know this love.  The mystical reality Christ teaches in His prayer is the mystical reality of love, which we can learn through faith.  If our childhood is imperfect, if those whom we know are not kind, if strangers do not stand to give us anything that is love, then we have no need to despair -- for love is a gift of God through faith, and we grow in that love and that unity through our faith.  This is the promise of Christ, and it is His prayer, for all of us, none excepted.  The life of Christ -- and of the Trinity -- is ultimately the life of love which contains all else.  As St. Paul says in summing up his chapter on the gift of love:  "And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love" (1 Corinthians 13:13).  These are the gifts we need for our life -- and through faith, and Christ's prayer, no one can take them away.  We are invited in to grow and participate "as one" in this life.  It is an open gift we have simply to receive and enter.  Our mystical union is always open; we just take the first step with faith and especially through prayer when nothing else is available.  Lent is the time for prayer, for making room for this faith to take root and a deeper hold within us, to exercise our capacity to choose for God, and to choose against whatever it is that gets in the way of our faith.  Let us take the time to make that room and let our lives grow in God's love.   As Christ reveals here, the world will not show it to us, but we must engage and grow with Him to learn and to know that love for ourselves.