Daily Gospel Reflection
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May 28, 2020
Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying: “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
“Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
“Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
While Jesus’ prayer for the unity of his disciples can be read as a comforting promise of a people fully united to God, his request to the Father, “so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one,” can also be seen as a daunting challenge. Jesus makes this prayer in John’s Gospel immediately before he is handed over, put to death on the cross, and denied by the very disciples that he is praying for now.
To take on this new identity, this unity with God and with fellow believers, seems an impossible task in a world where it is hard enough to be a good friend, a diligent student, or a loving member of a family. However, this burden is not simply placed upon us, for us to sort out for ourselves. No, Christ himself restores the gap between sinful humanity and God so that we can truly be alive in his grace.
This prayer reminds me of the essential moniker of Christian education that we usually speak of very casually: the Imitation of Christ. While this imitation can be understood as simply acting in a compassionate and selfless way, it is more significantly an active responsibility to be Christ in the world. Jesus invites us to be fully united to himself, and so manifests God’s love to the world.
This imitation is surely a daunting responsibility, yet, as we practice it more deeply and seriously through prayer, accepting grace, and living out the virtues, this task becomes easier as we recognize our dependence on God more each day. In so doing, we pray that as people come to know us, they come also to know Christ through us, and might become one in him as well.
Prayer
Father, creator of all, you are the center of all life. Everything in this world points to you and leads us to you. Today we ask of you the grace to keep you at the center of our lives, to use you as the reference point of all our thoughts, words, and actions. In serving you, we hope to give our best to all whom we encounter this day. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Bernard of Montjoux was a saint of great hospitality who not only welcomed travelers crossing the Alps to visit Rome and the Holy Land, but in many cases, he saved their lives.
He was born in Italy in the tenth century, and after his ordination to the priesthood, he was appointed to a position that entailed caring for small village communities in a region of the Alps. This area included two of the most accessible passes through the mountains that were used by pilgrims traveling from northern Europe to Rome and the Holy Land.
The pilgrims traveling through the Alps through these passes faced many dangers. The temperatures in the mountains could easily freeze a person, and some did not expect to confront the snow that they had to trudge through in higher elevations, not to mention the threat of avalanches. In addition, robbers would frequently take advantage of the isolation and narrow pathways to ambush travelers and take their resources and gear.
Bernard assembled a patrol of civilians and cleared the mountain passes of these robbers. He also established two hospices at the summits of both passes, which welcomed travelers of any background and continue to do so today. The group of people who joined Bernard to staff the hospices fell into a regular community life together, which was formalized into a monastery. That community still exists to serve travelers in that region.
The famous large-breed rescue dogs that are named after St. Bernard were first used to rescue stranded travelers by the hospice communities founded by the saint. St. Bernard is the patron Saint of mountain climbers and skiers.
St. Bernard spent 42 years as a priest serving the people of this region. In addition to serving travelers, he founded schools and reformed parishes throughout the area. He lived to be 85 years old and died on this date in 1081.
St. Bernard of Montjoux, you saved pilgrims in the Alps from avalanches and robbers—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Bernard of Montjoux is in the public domain/available for use under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Last accessed March 11, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
