by: Deacon Paul Rooney (deaconpaul@cox.net)
7th Sunday of Easter
(Cycle “A" – May 8, 2005)

Q. 318: Today’s gospel (Jn 17:1-11) shows Jesus praying to his Father, saying that he had “passed on” to them the message the Father had entrusted to Jesus. What does that mean to us today?

A. 318: In verse 6 Jesus prays, “They have kept your word.” This means that even though the apostles had very limited understanding before Pentecost and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, they remained obediently faithful to the teachings of Jesus. Because of their obedience to Jesus and faithfulness to His word, they now have been delegated the responsibility to continue the mission of Jesus.

Just prior to that, in verse 4, Jesus tells his Father that he has “glorified” Him by carrying out his mission, obeying the will of the Father. “Glory” is the manifestation of the divine presence; so wherever the will of God is carried out, He receives Glory (= His presence is made visible).

Now we, as baptized Christians, have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. So now we, too, have the same responsibility to carry out the will of the Father, as Jesus taught us. This is not a responsibility to be taken lightly, because although “glory” seems to indicate awesome power and majesty, it does not exclude the possibility of suffering. The Second Reading makes that very clear, when Peter says (1 Pet 4:16) that Christians give glory to God when they suffer for just being Christians (i.e., living lives in accordance with God’s will). So give glory to God (= make God’s presence visible through you) at all times!

Know Your Catechism! When we pray daily The Lord’s Prayer that the Father’s will be done, are we looking “within” or just pointing a finger “out there” (CCC#2750)? We have been given the Spirit of Glory to empower us to reveal Jesus through the way we live our lives (CCC#693). This is the “time of the Spirit” which may entail suffering for following Jesus (CCC#672). Are you faithfully obedient to the teachings of the Bishops, successors of the Apostles?

Deacon Paul Rooney
Mary Our Queen Parish, Omaha