Những bài Tin Mừng trong ngày thứ thứ ba, thứ tư và thứ năm trong tuần này (tuần thứ 7 mùa Phục Sinh) là những bài đọc hay nhất và đã được gộp lại với nhau. Những bài này được rút ra từ chương XVII trong sách Tin Mừng của Thánh Gioan, những bài Tin Mừng này đã cho chúng ta thấy được sự chân thành trong lời cầu nguyện, những mối quan tâm mà Chúa Giêsu hằng âm ỉ giữ mải trong tâm khảm của Ngài khi Ngài biết rằng Ngài sẽ phải ra đi vào vườn Cây Dầu và lên đường chuẩn bị lên núi Calvary.
Trong khi Ngài cầu nguyện cho "tất cả mọi người", đặc biệt, Chúa Giêsu đã cầu nguyện cho những người có đang mặt trong phòng Tiệc Ly và tất cả những người đã từng theo Chúa và cùng làm việc với Chúa trong việc làm cho Nước Chúa được hiện diện ở giữa những người trong thế kỷ thứ nhất tại Jerusalem, Giuđêa và Galilê .
Điều đáng chú ý, tuy nhiên, Chúa Giêsu đã cầu nguyện một cách rõ ràng cho những thế hệ mai sau, cho những ai sẽ tin tưởng ở nơi Ngài qua những lời rao giảng của các môn đệ của Ngài và của người kế vị các Tông Đồ thay mặt Chúa giáo huấn cho mọi ngươì, Tóm lại, Chúa Giêsu đã cầu nguyện cho tất cả chúng ta, cho các tín hữu như chúng ta đang ở trong Người. Ngài cầu nguyện xin Thiên Chúa cho chúng ta mãi mãi được đoàn kết và đó điều rất là quan trọng trong thế giới đang bị đầy rẫy những chia rẽ này. Ngài cũng cầu nguyện cho tất chúng ta là sẽ gặp và thấy riêng Ngài trong vinh quang Thiên Chúa trên thiên đàng. Đây phải là một ý nghĩ cần phải có trong tâm trí của chúng ta mỗi ngày.
The Gospel readings for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for this 7th week of Easter are best taken together. They make up the seventeenth chapter of St John’s Gospel. They present us in prayer form the concerns that were in the heart of Jesus as he was about to leave the Supper Room for Gethsemane and Calvary.
While he prayed for “all people” he prayed in particular for those present in the Supper Room and all those others who worked with him in his mission to make present the Kingdom of God among the men and women of first century Jerusalem, Judea and Galilee.
Strikingly, however, he prayed explicitly for those generations to come who would believe in him because of the words of the disciples present in the room and of their successors. In short he prayed for you and for me, believers as we are in him. He prayed that we would be united and that is very important in this divided world. He prayed too that we would see him clearly, personally in his glory in heaven. What a thought to have in our minds for the day.
When we tell our friends that we are praying for them they are happy. We are happy and consoled when we know that they are praying for us. What a boost it is for us when we realize that Jesus prayed for us and is praying for us. How true are those words of the hymn, “What a friend we have in Jesus”! Dear Jesus, friend and inspirer, help us to believe in your continuing, loving interest in us.
“Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed, saying: “Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one.” John 17:11
In the ancient world, a name was not only a means of identification but also an expression of the authority and power that the person possessed. For instance, when a king or ruler issued a decree, it was done “in the name” of the king, meaning with his full authority and power behind it.
In the Bible, the “name” of God is much more than a simple designation or label; it signifies the full revelation of God’s identity, character, and power. The concept of God’s name is deeply tied to His nature and His actions in the world. His name represents who God is and His relationship with His people.
In the Old Testament, God appeared to Moses in the burning bush and instructed him to go to Pharaoh to bring His people, the Israelites, out of Egypt. Moses inquired, “But… if I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is His name?’ what do I tell them?” God replied to Moses: “I am who I am.” Then He added: “This is what you will tell the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you” (Exodus 3:13–14).
God’s mysterious name—“I AM WHO I AM” or simply “I AM”—is also His identity. It expresses God’s eternal existence and His self-sufficiency. He is the one who exists by His own nature, without beginning or end, having sovereignty over all creation.
In John’s Gospel, Jesus identifies Himself with the divine name numerous times: “I am he;” “I am the Bread of Life;” “I am the Light of the World;” “Before Abraham was, I AM;” “I am the Gate;” “I am the Good Shepherd;” “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life;” “I am the True Vine;” and “I told you that I AM.” Therefore, when Jesus prayed to the Father, “Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me…,” His prayer was authoritative, by which the Father’s will is implemented, because Jesus is I AM, and in that name, He prays.
Jesus’ prayer was “that they may be one just as we are one.” This prayer should give us great hope. To “be one” with God, just as the Father and Son are one, reveals that we are called to share in God’s very life, to be united to Him in a way that goes beyond intellectual agreement or friendship. We are invited into God’s unity, taking our identity in Him, sharing in His very essence and life. We become members of Christ’s Body, the Church, acting in Him, with Him, and through Him. This is why Jesus said three times during the Last Supper that whatever we ask the Father in His name, He will give us.
In 2 Peter 1:4, we read that God’s power has enabled us to escape corruption and evil desire and has bestowed upon us “precious and very great promises, so that through them you may come to share in the divine nature.” This foundational Scripture has led many Church Fathers to speak of our high calling to “divinization.” As Saint Athanasius of Alexandria famously said, “For He was made man that we might be made God; and He manifested Himself by a body that we might receive the idea of the unseen Father; and He endured the insolence of men that we might inherit immortality” (On the Incarnation, 54:3).
Reflect today on the high calling you have received. You are invited to share in God’s life, to take your identity in Him, to live and act in God’s divine name, exercising His authority and manifesting His sacrificial love. This is only possible when we are united to Christ as He is united to the Father. We become one with God, by His will, with His authority and grace. What high dignity we have received to act in His name and with His authority! Have hope in the ability to be drawn into this high calling, taking on this new identity, so that Jesus’ prayer at the Last Supper becomes a reality in your life.
My divine Lord, the great I AM, You have existed from all eternity as the one and eternal God. You invite me to share in Your life by uniting me with You in Christ through His humanity. I accept this high calling and pray, as You prayed during the Last Supper, that I may be one with You—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—and live and act in Your Name. Jesus, I trust in You.
Opening Prayer: Lord God, I contemplate today the mystery of redemption. You prepared our redemption from the beginning and promised that your Son would one day crush the head of the ancient serpent and redeem us, as our brother, from the debt of sin. May I be thankful today for so great a Redeemer!
1. The Third Passion Prediction: Mark’s Gospel is the shortest of the four Gospels. If space was an issue, why would he include three passion predictions instead of one? Apart from the fact that Jesus himself prophesied his passion three times on the way to Jerusalem, each prophecy provokes different reactions and becomes a teaching opportunity. When Jesus predicts his passion the first time, Peter takes him aside and tries to convince him not to go through with it (Mark 8:31-33). Jesus rebukes Peter and then invites his disciples to follow him and take up their cross. When Jesus predicted his passion the second time, the disciples were reduced to silence, did not understand, and were afraid to ask Jesus about his upcoming passion (Mark 9:30-32). In private, they discussed who was the greatest among them. And Jesus takes the opportunity to teach them about the true greatness of humility, service, and love. When Jesus predicts his passion the third time in a very detailed way, two of Jesus’ disciples eagerly seek places beside Jesus in his coming kingdom and promise to drink the chalice of passion with Jesus. The three passion prophecies show the journey of faith of the disciples: from opposition to not understanding to seeking to suffer with Christ.
Opening Prayer: Lord, grant me the grace to seek your truth and follow you. You have told me through your eternal word that you wish for me to cling to you and thus share in your joy—not just to some small degree set aside for each one of us, but completely. Let me take this to heart and refrain from the alternative of endlessly chasing the fleeting pleasures of this world.
Encountering Christ:
Guarded Well: By this point in John’s Gospel, we know that many disciples had left Jesus (John 6:66). It is comforting to know that Jesus didn’t consider any of these lost; in fact, only Judas, who couldn’t bear the shame of his betrayal and therefore wasn’t capable of seeking forgiveness, was lost. Indeed, the only unforgivable sin is “blaspheming the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 12:31), which is beautifully explained by our Church: “There are no limits to the mercy of God, but anyone who deliberately refuses to accept his mercy by repenting, rejects the forgiveness of his sins and the salvation offered by the Holy Spirit. Such hardness of heart can lead to final impenitence and eternal loss” (CCC 1864).
Opening Prayer: Lord, I come to this time of prayer with a desire to know you better. I want to know your truth by knowing your word. Fill me with the truth so I will be filled with joy.
In the Name of God: Jesus lifted up his heart, prayed to his Father, and begged him on our behalf to “keep them in your name that you have given me.” Jesus’s name is the one by which “God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend (Philippians 2:9-10). The name of Jesus is different from other names, for it is what it signifies: Jesus (Y’shua in Hebrew) is “savior, deliverer”; he redeemed us and rescued us. When we whisper the Jesus Prayer: “Jesus, son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner,” we invoke a name that is powerful in protecting us from evil and darkness. We can whisper this prayer, or simply his name, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,” when we are afraid or tempted.
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