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His Prayer, Our Mission
“For the Souls in Purgatory – Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord”
Jn 17:11-26
And now I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, while I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are. When I was with them I protected them in your name that you gave me, and I guarded them, and none of them was lost except the son of destruction, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you. I speak this in the world so that they may share my joy completely. I gave them your word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world. And I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth.
I pray not only for them, 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. And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me. Father, they are your gift to me. I wish that where I am they also may be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world. Righteous Father, the world also does not know you, but I know you, and they know that you sent me. I made known to them your name and I will make it known, that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them.
Grace Prayed For
I pray for the grace to truly believe and viscerally experience that the Trinitarian God desires union with me. May I have the courage to open my heart completely to receive the indwelling love of Jesus, so that I may not only rejoice in this gift but become a living testament of it for the world.
Reflection
This is not a speech. This is a prayer. We are eavesdropping on the intimate, whispered conversation between the Son and the Father, just moments before the Passion. And what is the subject of this conversation? It is you. Jesus, in his final hours of freedom, holds you up to the Father. He is not just thinking of you; He is speaking of you, praying for you, consecrating Himself for you.
His prayer reveals the very nature of the gift you are contemplating: “God gives himself to me.” How? Jesus’ prayer is the blueprint. His plea, “that they may be one just as we are,” is staggering. He is not praying for us to simply get along. He is praying that we be drawn into the very life of the Trinity. The union between the Father and the Son—an eternal, perfect, life-giving whirlwind of love—is the model for His desired union with you. He wants to pull you into that divine dance. This isn’t just about nearness to God; it’s about interpenetration with God. “I in them and you in me.” This is the mechanics of the self-gift. Christ desires to dwell in your heart, not as a visitor, but as a permanent resident, making His home there, so that the Father, seeing the Son, may dwell there too.
And notice the purpose. This profound union is not meant to be a private treasure, kept locked away. It is for the sake of the world. “…that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me.” Our union with God is the single greatest missionary tool we possess. When we allow God to truly give Himself to us, when we rejoice in that union, our lives begin to radiate a joy, a peace, and a wholeness that the world cannot explain. Our love for one another, born from this shared indwelling, becomes a beacon. People will see our unity and know that its source must be divine. They will see how God loves us—personally, tenderly, fiercely—and they will come to believe that they, too, are offered this same love.
To rejoice in your union with God is to accept the mission. It is to understand that the love God pours into your heart is not a reservoir but a river, meant to flow out into every encounter. The more you receive the gift of Himself, the more you become that gift for others. This is the heartbeat of Christ’s prayer: that you would be so completely filled with the love of the Trinity that your very existence becomes a proclamation of that love to a world starving for it.
Announcing Jesus in Our Lives
Speak from a Place of Being Loved: When you talk about your faith, frame it as a story of love. Instead of “You should do this,” try “For me, I’ve found that when I spend a few minutes just being quiet with God in the morning, I feel so much more loved and capable. It’s a gift He gives me that makes all the difference.” This announces how Jesus has loved you.
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Sharing
Jesus last words on Earth were to his disciples, can be found in Matthew Chap 28 when Jesus told his disciples, “Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
Jesus calls all of us to share in his redemptive mission here on Earth. I would ask you to share this Scripture reflection with your family, your friends and your acquaintances, and then share it with a couple of individuals that you may may not be comfortable sharing with, keeping in mind always the words of Jesus, And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age
Author was assisted by AI in the drafting of this Post