For those who follow the readings in a missalette you found yourselves flipping pages today. While the first reading is the one assigned for the sixth Sunday of Easter, the epistle from St. Peter and the Gospel from St. John are both taken from the seventh Sunday of Easter. We made this switch because in the Archdiocese of Chicago (and in most of the US) next Sunday we will celebrate the Ascension of the Lord with its particular readings. We transferred the Bible passages for seventh Sunday to this week since we seldom get to hear them. And they are worth hearing! The Seventh Sunday of Easter has as its gospel text the seventeenth chapter of John’s Gospel, called by scholars the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus. This chapter which describes Jesus at prayer serves as a model for our own prayer as well.
The first thing to notice is WHO is praying. When Jesus raises his eyes to heaven he prays: “Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you.” Jesus prays as the beloved child of God. He prays as a son with his father. We need to remember that when we pray, we too are beloved children of God. We can at times feel intimidated at prayer, like who am I to imagine that God would want to connect with little old me? The prayer of Jesus shows us that we have the perfect right to be in the presence of God. A few years ago I had the inestimable privilege of having a private audience with Pope Francis. I had to pass through security with the Vatican Police to go through the Bronze Doors which led into the Papal Palace. I went down the corridor with the Swiss Guards in the multi-colored outfits holding their medieval weapons saluting me as I passed. When I arrived at the Papal Apartments there were the Chamberlains with their frock coats and silver chains of office guiding me to the Papal Library for the audience. During that entire episode I kept thinking “What am I doing here? I don’t belong here! This is for high falutin people, not me.” We should never feel that way in prayer. We belong in prayer just a surely as a child can curl up in his Father’s lap.
Next, notice WHY Jesus prayed. “Now glorify me, Father with the glory that I had with you.” Jesus names and claims the relationship that he has with God. Too often when we pray we imagine that we are trying to connect with God, trying to get God’s attention, trying to get God to notice us. That is not what prayer does. In prayer we are taking our gaze off of the stuff of life to recognize that the connection with God is always there, that God always notices us. I remember when my Dad would come home from work he would come into the kitchen and give my mother a little peck on the cheek and say, “I love you.” This was not creating anything new what wasn’t already there but an explicit acknowledgement of the relationship between them. Prayer is something like that – a way of making concrete the ongoing connection that we have with God and God has with us.
WHERE Jesus prayed in this chapter was in the midst of his disciples. “I pray for the ones you have given me for they are yours.” Now the gospels report that Jesus would often go off to pray by himself, a good and salutary thing to do. But as these past two months have demonstrated there is also something essential about praying together. We miss the opportunity to gather together. The Bible describes the disciples of Jesus as a lot like us – flawed individuals who would deny, betray, abandon him. So Jesus did not pray with the perfect people but with those looking to perfect themselves. Our prayer at St. James is a similar opportunity for many people with broken wings to learn to fly together.
Finally notice WHAT Jesus prayed for. “I pray for the ones you gave me and now I will no longer be in the world but they are in the world.” The prayer of Jesus is designed to help us make it in the hurly-burly of the world – jobs, family, sickness, money concerns, cranky neighbors, urban violence, weird weather. While we’re waiting for God’s triumph, for love and joy and peace and kindness to prosper more than greed and cruelty and war and power, we have to find our way in the world. We pray like Jesus so we can make it as disciples “in the world.” If we turn the other cheek, we find that one gets slapped as well. If we forgive seventy times seven times, we get our last nerve pushed by that 491 offense. If we give to those who ask, there’ll be a line outside our door. If we seek first the kingdom of God, the bill collector will not be impressed. We are praying in the world with values of Jesus that are out of this world. The world says get all you can. Jesus says give all you can. The world says nice guys finish last. Jesus says nice guys get the glory. The world says if you look out for number one you’ll do well. Jesus says if you look after the least of your brothers and sisters you’ll do good. The world says the valuable people are the rich and the famous. Jesus says there isn’t anyone out there who is not of infinite value. We might be in the world but until our change comes we’re not of the world. The prayer of Jesus demonstrates that our prayer is not some mystical flight of fancy up into celestial spheres but the opportunity to uncover the presence of God in pots and pans, in mowing the lawn and in doing the wash. So pray, pray as Jesus prayed, and be assured that your every prayer is heard.
