This last Sunday of Eastertide
before Pentecost could be considered the “Prayer Sunday.” In today’s gospel, we
read a passage from chapter 17 of John. This chapter is the conclusion—better,
the climax—of the discourse that Jesus delivers to the apostles during the last
supper. Well, at this point Jesus stops speaking to his disciples and turns to
God in prayer. He addresses God in a way familiar to him, calling God “Father”
(Abba). Since he does not pray only for himself, but even for his
disciples—thus playing a role of intercessor—this prayer has been called the
“high priestly prayer.”
First of all, Jesus prays for
himself. He is aware that his “hour” has come. Do you remember, when at Cana
his mother Mary pointed out that they had run short of wine, what Jesus replied?
“My hour has not yet come” (Jn 2:4). Now, that hour has finally arrived. The
evangelist John, at the beginning of chapter 13, introducing his account of the
last supper, says: “Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had
come to pass from this world to the Father” (Jn 13:1). So, it is the hour of
his passing; but it is, at the same time, the hour of his glorification—a
glorification which can be attained only through suffering and death. Jesus
knows that time for his passion has come, and he accepts it freely. But he asks
the Father to glorify him. He is entitled to glory, because he possessed it
before the world began. He had temporarily renounced that glory at the moment
of his incarnation. Saint Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, says: “Though
he was in the form of God, [he] did not regard equality with God something to
be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in
human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming
obedient to death, even death on a cross” (Phil 2:6-8). But now it is time to
take up that glory again. He has accomplished the mission the Father had
entrusted to him. He has revealed the name of God to his disciples. Now, he
wants to give them eternal life. The gospel explains in what eternal life
consists: “This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God,
and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.”
So, Jesus is concerned not only about
himself, but also, and above all, for the salvation of his disciples. That is
why he prays for them. He prays for his disciples, because he is about to leave
them; he is going back to the Father, whereas they are staying in the world,
with all its dangers; therefore, they need a special protection from God. Jesus
does not pray for the world, but only for his disciples—“the ones you have
given me”. In John’s gospel, the term “world” refers to those who refuse God,
because they consider themselves self-sufficient; they do not feel in need of
him. So, what’s the use of praying for them?
In the gospel, we see Jesus
praying; in the first reading, instead, we encounter the apostles praying: they “devoted themselves with one accord to prayer” (perseverantes unanimiter in oratione) . By
now, Jesus has ascended into heaven. Before leaving his disciples, Jesus had
confirmed his promise of sending them the Holy Spirit, and had enjoined them to
wait for the fulfillment of that promise. So, now they go back to the place
where they had eaten the last supper with Jesus and where he had appeared to
them after his resurrection. They start to pray, waiting for the fulfillment of
Jesus’ promise. They are not alone: with them, there is “Mary the mother of
Jesus.” The Blessed Virgin immediately takes on the role of “mother of the
Church,” that Jesus had entrusted to her from the cross. This scene is an icon
of the Church in every time—the Church praying, with her Mother and her
Pastors, for the coming of the Spirit. In these days between the Ascension and
Pentecost, we are invited to imitate the apostles gathered in the upper room
along with Mary, and pray like them, imploring the outpouring of the Holy
Spirit upon the Church and the world.
Q
