John 17: 1-11

Jesus said these things. Then, raising his eyes in prayer, he said:

Father, it’s time.
Display the bright splendor of your Son
So the Son in turn may show your bright splendor.
You put him in charge of everything human
So he might give real and eternal life to all in his charge.
And this is the real and eternal life:
That they know you,
The one and only true God,
And Jesus Christ, whom you sent.
I glorified you on earth
By completing down to the last detail
What you assigned me to do.
And now, Father, glorify me with your very own splendor,
The very splendor I had in your presence
Before there was a world.
I spelled out your character in detail
To the men and women you gave me.
They were yours in the first place;
Then you gave them to me,
And they have now done what you said.
They know now, beyond the shadow of a doubt,
That everything you gave me is firsthand from you,
For the message you gave me, I gave them;
And they took it, and were convinced
That I came from you.
They believed that you sent me.
I pray for them.
I’m not praying for the God-rejecting world
But for those you gave me,
For they are yours by right.
Everything mine is yours, and yours mine,
And my life is on display in them.
For I’m no longer going to be visible in the world;
They’ll continue in the world
While I return to you.

Gospel Reflection

The mission of Jesus is about to be accomplished. Saint John sees the passion and death of Jesus as the moment in which He is most glorious; because His mission is to reveal in human form, the infinite love and mercy of God, in all circumstances, for the whole of humanity.

This love and mercy is most evident when Jesus responds with love and mercy to his being betrayed, rejected, mocked, scourged, and crucified. The message is that nothing can separate us from his love and mercy. He makes clear the inner nature of God. The evil of the whole human race is transformed in the heart of Jesus crucified.

Gaze at the Cross of Jesus, and ponder what He endures to convey the infinite mercy and love of God. “By his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24).