WHY JESUS PRAYS? ~ CookingFood.Org

“RISEN WITH CHRIST”

Easter Reflections

Thursday, 1^st June 2017.

Seventh Week of Easter

Memorial of St. Justin, Martyr

Acts 22: 30; 23: 6-11;

Ps 16: 1-2, 5-11 (R. 1);

Jn 17: 20-26

WHY JESUS PRAYS?

Today, we find our Lord Jesus praying for us who believe in him. What a privilege it is to have a God who prays for us. What an honor it is to know that we are mentioned in the gospel and talked about by Jesus?

As Jesus lifted His eyes to Heaven, He prayed to His Father in Heaven. This act, of lifting His eyes, reveals one unique aspect of the presence of the Father. It reveals that the Father is transcendent. “Transcendent” means that the Father is above all and beyond all. So, in speaking to the Father, Jesus begins with this gesture by which He acknowledges the transcendence of the Father. We must also note the imminence of the Father’s relationship with Jesus. The Father and Jesus are united as one. Their relationship is one that is profoundly personal in nature.

Jesus’ prayer to the Father was that we who come to believe and share in the unity of the Father and the Son. This means we start by seeing the transcendence of God, lifting our eyes to Heaven and striving to see the splendor, glory, greatness, power, and majesty of God. We must also strive to see this glorious and transcendent God descend into our souls, communicating to us, loving us, and establishing a deeply personal relationship with us. We must acknowledge His presence, adore Him as He lives within us, speak to Him and love Him.

The first thing he asks for us is unity (Jn 17: 21-23). Our oneness in God results in mission, as Jesus says: “So that the world may believe that you have sent me,” and again, “so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” More and more people will come to faith in Christ, as the Church lives in, and manifests, and testifies to the love of God in Christ.

Then Jesus proceeds to pray “...that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.” He is talking about our eternal life in heaven in the age to come. There we will see his glory, undimmed and undiminished. There we will be with him, and we will see him face to face.

Prayer: Lord, help me to always lift my eyes to Heaven in prayer. May I constantly turn to You and Your Father. In that prayerful gaze may I also discover You alive in my soul where You are adored and loved. Jesus, I trust in You. Amen.