One With the Father and Jesus

Homily for Thursday of the Seventh Week in Eastertide

In today’s Gospel (John 17:20-26), we are drawn into the heart of Jesus’ prayer—the night before His Passion. This is no ordinary prayer. It is intimate, profound, and overflowing with love. Jesus lifts His eyes to heaven and speaks to the Father not only on behalf of His disciples but for all who would believe through their word—that includes us today.

The central desire of Jesus’ prayer is unity: “that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you.” This oneness is not about uniformity but communion—a deep connection grounded in love, truth, and divine presence. Jesus tells the Father that his disciples believe that he was sent by God. Jesus then sends his apostles out to preach the Kingdom of God. Through our baptism into Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection, we are sent just as his apostles were sent. The connection or communion of which Jesus speaks is belief in who Jesus is as the one sent by God. Jesus wants us to share in the same loving relationship He shares with the Father, to be drawn into the eternal embrace of God.

This unity is not just spiritual or symbolic. It has real implications for how we live, love, and relate to one another. Jesus gives us the glory He received—not for personal elevation, but to draw us into divine life. He prays that we may be “brought to perfection as one,” so that the world might believe in the love that sent Him.

At the heart of this prayer is an incredible truth: we are God’s gift to Jesus. This is how much we are loved. And this love is not distant or abstract—it desires to dwell in us: “that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and I in them.” Let this prayer of Jesus echo in your heart: I am loved, I am called, and I am one with Him. Through out communion with him this morning, we celebrate that connection, that “oneness” with Jesus.