Daily Gospel Reflection
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June 2, 2022
Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying:
“I pray not only for these,
but also for those who will believe in me through their word,
so that they may all be one,
as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
that they also may be in us,
that the world may believe that you sent me.
And 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 loved them even as you loved me.
Father, they are your gift to me.
I wish that where I am they also may be with me,
that they may see my glory that you gave me,
because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
Righteous Father, the world also does not know you,
but I know you, and they know that you sent me.
I made known to them your name and I will make it known,
that the love with which you loved me
may be in them and I in them.”
Today’s gospel reminds me of the song I learned in my first communion classes years ago: “Sons of God, hear his holy Word, gather ‘round the table of the Lord.”
It always made me wonder, if we are sons of God, then by extension, aren’t we part of God? Isn’t Jesus saying just that in today’s passage? Jesus prays that we “may all be one,” as God is in Jesus and Jesus is in God. “I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one.“ So if we are part of God, why are we not perfect?
Hey, this is a reflection. I didn’t say I had all the answers.
But, I think we can meditate on Christ’s words more closely and ask some thoughtful questions.
As part of God’s creation, we are called to determine how we exist in relation to God, and what we are as part of what God is. Well, what is God?
We often have an anthropomorphic view of God, but this limits the omnipotence of the Almighty. Is God the old man on the Sistine Chapel extending his finger to Adam? Or, is God the macro, the micro, the boundless universe, the tiniest particle in that universe, the order, the “was and always will be?” Is God that love that binds all, including you and me?
All of this compels me to ask, what is God’s love, and more importantly, what is our love for God? Is it our love for our earthly fathers, or does it go beyond? Jesus calls for us to be brought to perfection as one. Therefore, our love for God should be an unlimited awe for all creation and a total striving for understanding that creation.
Let us ponder how we might reach perfection in our lives through God’s love, in every second, minute and hour of every day so that we may fulfill Jesus’ prayer to our Father.
Prayer
Loving God, you call us your beloved daughters and sons. May your Spirit inspire us to believe this. Help us to believe this in our neighbor so we may truly all be one in Christ. Grant this in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Brother. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Sts. Peter and Marcellinus were both martyrs from the early Church who are still honored today in the Eucharistic prayer that we offer at Mass.
Marcellinus was a well-known priest, and Peter was an exorcist—they lived during the persecution of Christians under the Roman emperor Diocletian at the start of the fourth century. They were arrested and jailed for being Christians.
In prison, they continued to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ, which converted some of the prisoners, and even their guard (along with his wife and daughter). They were condemned to death by beheading, and were killed and buried in an unmarked place in the forest so that the Christian community could not honor their remains. Their executioner, who later became Christian himself, told of their location, however, and their bodies were found and placed in the catacombs.
Pope St. Damasus heard the story of their death from this executioner, and created an inscription for their tombs. Later, Constantine built a basilica over their remains—it is where his mother, St. Helen, was buried. These two saints are honored in the Eucharistic prayer, and there is strong evidence that they were very important saints for the early Christian Church.
The bodies of Sts. Marcellinus and Peter were moved at several points through the ages, and ended up in a monastery in Germany. Relics of the martyr, St. Peter, also rest in the Basilica in the reliquary chapel.
Sts. Marcellinus and Peter, your imprisonment and death sentence did not dampen your zeal—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of Sts. Marcellinus and Peter is in the public domain. Modified from the original. Last accessed March 18, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
