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Week Forty-Five, Day One

John 17

This is the final chapter of John before Jesus is arrested. It is a 26-verse prayer. While it seems odd in our modern context, John is actually using a classic literary device for his day. Jewish literature often closes with a prayer of blessing. That was common for Mediterranean writings as well.

However, it is not unknown to us. I just read Cardinal Joseph Benardin’s book Gift of Peace. In the last chapter he writes:

As I write these final words, my heart is filled with joy. I am at peace. It is the first day of November, and fall is giving way to winter. Soon the trees will lose the vibrant colors of their leaves and snow will cover the ground. The earth will shut down, and people will race to and from their destinations bundled up for warmth. Chicago winters are harsh. It is a time of dying. But we know that spring will soon come with all its new life and wonder. It is quite clear that I will not be alive in the spring. But I will soon experience new life in a different way. Although I do not know what to expect in the afterlife, I do know that just as God has called me to serve him to the best of my ability throughout my life on earth, he is now calling me home.

What I would like to leave behind is a simple prayer that each of you may find what I have found – God’s special gift to us all: the gift of peace. When we are at peace, we find the freedom to be most fully who we are, even in the worst of times. We let go of what is nonessential and embrace what is essential. We empty ourselves so that God may more fully work within us. And we become instruments in the hands of the Lord.

In closing, he shares the Prayer of St. Francis: “Lord make me an instrument of your peace.” As I read this, I understood what Jesus was doing with this prayer in John 17. In the face of the pain and tribulation that we all must face, Jesus wants to end his life commending us to God’s care. He has absolute confidence that, whatever may come, that is enough to see us through.

Blessings, Michael President, Hope for Peace & Justice

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