Homily for the Seventh Sunday in Easter, Year C

Jesus Prays For Us

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Seventh Sunday in Easter, Year C

Church of St. Bridget of Minneapolis, MN

Sunday, June 1, 2025

Throughout the centuries of Christianity, prayer has been described and defined in numerous ways. For the great St. Augustine, true prayer is nothing but love. It means that prayer should arise from the heart. St. Theresa of Lisieux defined prayer as “a surge of the heart; as a simple look turned toward heaven, and a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy.” St. John Damascene provided a classic definition of prayer: “Prayer is the raising of one’s mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God.” The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines prayer as a “vital and personal relationship with the living and true God” (CCC, no. 2558). One of my formators, Father Richard Thiele, CSsR, described prayer as “an act of touching God.” Speaking about prayer, the late Holy Father, Pope Francis, said that prayer is not just a private and intimate dialogue between a person and God, but rather an opportunity for Christians to bring the needs of others before the Lord. For Pope Francis, true Christians do not only pray for their personal needs, but also carry in their hearts the needs of their loved ones and those who suffer. So, when you pray, remember to pray for the needs of others. “In Christian prayer,” Pope Francis affirmed, “no one asks for bread for himself: he pleads for it for all the poor of the world.”

In today’s Gospel (John 17:20-26), Jesus acts as priest and intercessor. He prays not for himself but for his immediate disciples and future disciples, that is, those who will believe in him through their preaching. The whole of John 17 is called the “high priestly prayer” of Jesus. It is his prayer to his heavenly Father before his Passion and death on the cross. How did he start his prayer? John says, “Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed.” “Lifting up his eyes to heaven” is a religious gesture that acknowledges that the One Jesus is speaking to transcends space and time. He is not one item among the many items in the world. Although he is closer to me than I am to myself, he is, nevertheless, totally Other. In prayer, gesture matters. Poster matters. One of my professors in school was fond of saying, “Your gesture speaks.” And he is so right. What you do when you are praying matters. If you are praying and at the same time watching television, that says a lot about your spiritual life. If you are praying and at the same time engaging in conversation with those in the room, you are not really talking to God. If you want to pray, pray. But if you want to do other things, go ahead and do them. Prayer time is the most important time in the life of a Christian. It is a unique time of encounter with God who is great, greater, and the greatest. I tell you, if you come to my office to speak to me, and I am giving you my time and attention, but then I realize you are distracted by your phone or something else, I will conclude you are not serious. When you want to speak to God, cast aside all your distractions and focus on him. God is more important than your distractions. 

 What does Jesus pray for? What does he want for all of us, for all of his disciples? “That they may all be one.” In 1995, the great St. Pope John Paul II wrote an encyclical titled “Ut Unum Sint,” which means “That they may be one.” The Letter is about ecumenism, about the unity of all Christians and all the Christian churches and denominations. In it, the late pontiff argued that working for unity among Christians is not an addition to the Gospel or an option for some specialists but a very important part of the Gospel for all Christians. Even if there are moral or doctrinal disagreements, there must be harmony among Christians. After all, there is one faith, one Lord, and one God who is the Father of all (Ephesians 4:5-6). 

More to it, in this high priestly prayer, Jesus repeatedly referred to “the world.” Is he speaking about cosmological space? This physical world that we live in? Not at all! The world is good. The Book of Genesis tells us that after God created everything, he looked at it “and found it very good” (1:31). So, the world is created good. The Catholic Church vehemently opposes Plato’s dualism, which considers the physical world as a flawed and imperfect copy of a more perfect world, called the world of forms. The “world” that Jesus speaks about in his prayer is the “world” of cruelty, injustice, vengeance, betrayal, violence, stupidity, and aggression. It is the “world” that crucified him on the cross. It is the “world” that makes power, wealth, honor, and pleasure its god. That “world” is the collectivity of persons, institutions, armies, and nations predicated upon the loss of friendship with God. That “world”, that network, will always hate the followers of Jesus. Why? Because the light they bring scares them. If you are a light, those who live in darkness will always be threatened by your presence. You don’t have to say anything or do anything to be hated by them. The mere fact that you are light and walk in the light makes them uncomfortable. Should you compromise just to be accepted? Not at all! If that “world” hates you, consider yourself blessed. In his great Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, “Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:11-12). And in his letter, James says, “Friendship with the world is enmity with God” (James 4:4).