Meditation Minute

My Dearest Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

 

“Father, the hour has come.”

 

Gospel Reading: John 17:1-11a

 

Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you, just as you gave him authority over all people, so that your son may give eternal life to all you gave him. Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.  I glorified you on earth by accomplishing the work that you gave me to do. Now glorify me, Father, with you, with the glory that I had with you before the world began. "I revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you gave me is from you, because the words you gave to me I have given to them, and they accepted them and truly understood that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me, because they are yours, and everything of mine is yours and everything of yours is mine, and I have been glorified in them. And now I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, while I am coming to you."

 

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus lift’s his eyes to heaven and proclaims, " Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you.” What is this glory that Jesus is referring but the sacrifice He made for us on the Cross. On the Cross, God shows us how much he loves us. He loves us so much that he is willing to give his only Son to save us from our sins. Jesus honored his Father by doing the will of the Father to the point He sacrificed his life for us.  For those who are willing to make the same sacrifice, He gives us salvation and eternal life through this most wonderful act of love. Jesus was not held captive to the cross. He was able to defeat the cross through the glory of his resurrection. In the cross, Jesus saves us from our sins and he gives us eternal life, a life everlasting, a life without end. But today’s Gospel is more than Jesus glorifying the Father.  Jesus takes the time to pray to his Father that we will all become one with him as He is with the Father. He prays for our glory in Heaven. Jesus is about to be crucified on the cross and he prays for us. He prays for those that have committed their lives to the salvation that was given to us on the cross. He prays for those that believe in the Truth and the Way; that they will be united as one with the heavenly Father. This is the testament to our eternal salvation with our Lord in Heaven. When we make that commitment, we actually begin to experience our eternal life with God here on earth. That’s right, we begin to unite ourselves with God while we still live our earthly life. 

 

A Simple Prayer

 

Most Holy One, You are the Truth, in you there is eternal life.

I love you with all my heart; you are my salvation.

I give myself to you, make me one with you.

Use me to fulfill your needs for I am your servant.

May my deeds glorify you so that I may have eternal life in Heaven.

 

Yours in Christ

Michael Marcon