If you knew that the prayers you offered up today would be among your last, what would you pray for? Wouldn’t you focus on your highest priorities and most heartfelt desires – for yourself, for those dear to you? That’s what Jesus did. Our gospel passage today is part the last major prayer Jesus offered before his arrest and crucifixion. He had just spent three years in intense ministry with his disciples. Thousands of people had heard his message and seen and experienced his miracles. By his death, he would save humanity from the power of sin and open the door of eternal life. What else could there be on Jesus’ to-do list? What should he pray for?
The answer may surprise you. What he prayed for was us. Listen as he begins his final prayer: “Holy Father, I pray not only for them” – speaking of his disciples – “but also for those who will believe in me through their word.” Do you hear that? He is praying first of all for his disciples, and then he’s praying for those who will believe in him through their message. That’s us! Jesus’ final prayer was for his disciples and everyone, down through the ages, who would come to believe in him, including us. Why would Jesus pray for us?
Surely one reason is that there is more work to be done to complete Jesus’ mission, and you and I play an integral part in that mission. Jesus’ mission was to share the love of God with the people he encountered while he walked this earth. Then, after his Resurrection, he made it very clear that this work was supposed to continue, in every generation, through his Church – that is still true for us, we who are the Church today. Why was Jesus’ last prayer for his disciples and for us? It was so that we could continue the work that he had started while he was among us. You and I have been entrusted with the work of the Savior, and God will give us what we need to succeed in His service. You and I – we have been entrusted to carry on the work of the Messiah, the Deliverer, God in the flesh. And God will give us what we need to be successful in that work. I think you will all agree that the world needs to hear and experience God’s word of peace and love, especially today. Next week, as we celebrate the Solemnity of Pentecost, we are assured that God’s Spirit will accompany us as we do that work. And, Stephen, the first to die for the faith – as we heard in today’s first reading – sets the example of how we are to do this work: with our eyes fixed on heaven and very much aware of the presence of God accompanying us.
What is it that you feel called to do because of your faith in Jesus Christ? So many of you are already responding generously by sharing your faith with your family, handing on your faith to your children. That’s very important work that our Lord entrusts to all families of faith. And, we are also called to join in the work of spreading our faith to the ends of the earth. We remain a missionary Church. You may say, I don’t know any other calling that I am qualified for. Here’s what you need to understand: God does not call the qualified; He qualifies the called. Just look at his first disciples. In Jesus’ final prayer, he says in effect as he talks to God, if we just stay in relationship with Jesus like he stays in relationship with his heavenly Father, then the Father will enable us to do his work. We don’t need to rely on our own talents, strength or intellect alone to do God’s will. It is God’s power working in us that allows us to have an impact on the world.
And, there is an important condition we need to understand and accept to make our work successful. In Jesus’ final prayer includes a reminder that we are supposed to work together to complete the mission to which he has called us. This last prayer of our Lord is often called the Unity Prayer. Through our baptism, we are all welcomed into the family of God. Stop and think about this for a moment. Jesus had the power to heal the sick, cast out demons, calm storms, feed thousands, even bring the dead back to life. He had the power to come back from the dead. After his resurrection, he was going to grant all these powers and authority to his followers. And he grants this power and authority with a strong call to unity. Why? Because our unity is proof to the world that Jesus is who he says he is. Listen to what Jesus says today: “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 love them even as you love me.” Jesus makes it clear that our unity will prove to the whole world that Jesus is the Son of God, and that God loves us.
There is much work to do to spread the message of Jesus around the world. We, his followers, today are just as integral to his plan for the world as Christ’s first disciples were. And, our unity multiplies our efforts far beyond what we could accomplish on our own. It is also a clear sign of our unity with God, who is a communion of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. What is God calling each of us to do for the sake of spreading His message? And how can we join together with other believers around the world to accomplish it? That is the task that awaits the Church. And, there is an urgency to this task because the world needs it so desperately and because, as we hear in today’s second reading, our Lord is coming soon and he will bring with him recompense to give to each according to his deeds. Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!