John 17. The high-priestly prayer pleads for unity for his future disciples

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8


John 17:21 May they all be one, just as, Father, you are in me and I am in you, so that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe it was you who sent me.

JESUS OF NAZARETH Part II
Pope Benedict XVI
JESUS' HIGH-PRIESTLY PRAYER pp.93-102

"That they may all be one ..”

Another major theme of the high-priestly prayer is the future unity of Jesus' disciples. Uniquely in the Gospels, Jesus' gaze now moves beyond the current community of disciples and is directed toward all those who "believe in me through their word" (Jn. 17:20). The vast horizon of the community of believers in times to come opens up across the generations: the Church of the future is included in Jesus' prayer. He pleads for unity for his future disciples.

The Lord repeats this plea four times. Twice the purpose of this unity is indicated as being that the world may believe, that it may "recognize" that Jesus has been sent by the Father: "Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one" (Jn. 17:11). "That they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me" Jn. (17:21). "That they may be one even as we are one ... that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you have sent me" On 17:22-23).

No discourse on ecumenism ever lacks a reference to this "testament" of Jesus—to the fact that before he went to the Cross, he pleaded with the Father for the unity of his future disciples, for the Church of all times.
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should be. Yet we have to ask with all the more urgency: For what unity was Jesus praying? What is his prayer for the community of believers throughout history?

It is instructive to hear Rudolf Bultmann once again on this question. He says first of all—as we read in the Gospel—that this unity is grounded in the unity of Father and Son, and then he continues: "That means it is not founded on natural or purely historical data, nor can it be manufactured by organization, institutions or dogma; these can at best only bear witness to the real unity, as on the other hand they can also give a false impression of unity. And even if the proclamation of the word in the world requires institutions and dogmas, these cannot guarantee the unity of true proclamation. On the other hand the actual disunion of the Church, which is, in passing, precisely the result of its institutions and dogmas, does not necessarily frustrate the unity of the proclamation. The word can resound authentically, wherever the tradition is maintained. Because the authenticity of the proclamation can­not be controlled by institutions or dogmas, and because the faith that answers the word is invisible, it is also true that the authentic unity of the community is invisible ... it is invisible because it is not a worldly phenomenon at all" (The Gospel of John, pp. 513-14).   

COMMENT 2, Augustine 'On Loving God'

In short Reading of Bernard the word 'love' occurred 33 times.
In short Reading of Augustine the word of  'love' occurred 30 times.
Asks for comment!

Night Office
Seventh Week of Easter Wednesday Year 1

First Reading

From the first letter of John (5:1-12)

Second Reading
From a homily on Saint John's gospel by Saint Augustine (Tract 87, 1: CCL 36,543-544)

Love* as the source of all the fruits of the Spirit is the theme of this extract from a homily given sometime between 414 and 416.[* ‘love’ 30 times].

My command to you, says the Lord, is to love one another. This is the fruit we are asked to bear, according to that other statement of his: I have chosen you to go out and bear fruit, fruit that will endure. And when he adds, so that the Father may give you whatever you ask in my name, he clearly means that the Father will readily grant our requests provided that we love one another. But surely this love is his own gift to us, for he chose us while we lacked fruit of any sort — remember that it was he who chose us and not we him — and made it possible for us to bear fruit, in other words to love one another. We can never hope to bear such fruit unless he helps us with his grace — just as no branch can produce fruit unless it forms part of a living vine. Love, then, is our fruit; love that Saint Paul describes as springing from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith. Such is the source of our love for one another, and the source of our love for God.

Only if we love God can our love for one another be true love. If we love God, then we shall also love our neighbor as ourselves. Anyone who has no love for God has none for himself either. On the twofold precept of charity depends the whole of the law and the prophets. This love is the fruit the Lord has in mind when he says to us: My command to you is to love one another. That is why the apostle Paul, contrasting the fruits of the spirit with the works of the flesh, begins by saying: The fruit of the spirit is love, and then enumerates all the rest as though they flowed from love and looked to it as their source; they are, he says, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, fidelity, gentleness, and self-control

For who can properly rejoice, if they do not love some good in which to find their joy? Who can experience true peace, if they cannot be at peace with their beloved? Who will have the patience to persevere in doing good, if they are not constantly urged onward by love's prompting? Who will show kindness if they do not love those they set out to benefit? Who will be good if they are not made so by loving? Whose faith will profit them, but those whose faith works through love? How wise was our good Master when he so persistently recommended love to us as the one thing necessary, a treasure without which all other virtues avail us nothing, yet which cannot itself be had except in company with those other qualities which perfect us in virtue.

Responsory 1 John 4:7; Sirach 15:1-2

Beloved, let us love one another,

—   for love comes from God. alleluia

Harmony in the family and love among neighbors
is most pleasing to God and to other people.

— For love comes from God. alleluia.

Abbot of Pluscarden Bishop-elect of Aberdeen