Thursday of the Seventh Week of Easter

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/052412.cfm

An alluring tree displays
its trophies.

I pray not only for these,
but also for those who will believe in me through their word,
so that they may all be one,
as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
that they also may be in us,
that the world may believe that you sent me.

Today’s passage from the Priestly Prayer of Jesus brings us to the end of his Farewell Discourse. Saint John then tells us, “When he had said this, Jesus went out with his disciples across the Kidron valley….”

In his First Letter to the Corinthians, Saint Paul celebrated this mystery -- “that all may be one” -- with this song:

For just as in Adam all die, so too in Christ shall all be brought to life, but each one in proper order: Christ the first fruits; then, at his coming, those who belong to Christ; then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to his God and Father, when he has destroyed every sovereignty and every authority and power.
For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death, for “he subjected everything under his feet.” But when it says that everything has been subjected, it is clear that it excludes the one who subjected everything to him. When everything is subjected to him, then the Son himself will [also] be subjected to the one who subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all.

We do not know and probably cannot imagine what God’s being All in All might mean, but we believe it will be beautiful. Jesus’ prayer will be heard and answered and fulfilled. It is impossible that the consecration of the Only Begotten Son of God can be frustrated. Jesus encourages us to pray with all confidence; he insists that our prayers too will be heard.

This is why we drink from the well of scripture each day, to be refreshed in the promise – one day at a time.

Thank you God 

for 37 years of priesthood!