This week we are reading the prayer of Jesus in John's gospel that is often referred to by scholars as Jesus's Last Testament. It is the lengthy prayer that he prays just prior to his arrest. (Jn 17)
Today he ends the prayer with these words: that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them.
But do we really get it? Do we really in the depths of our being know that the same love with which the Father loves the Son is in us? Do we get that the Son through whom all things were made is in us? Even when we have just received communion do we truly believe that we have just received GOD.
If so how can we have fears? How can we have anxieties?
In the words of the psalm, "of whom should I be afraid" or "though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil." Or the simple command be not afraid.
We often forget that fortitude and courage are two of the cardinal virtues, not because of our self-esteem but because we believe the words with which Jesus ended the prayer before he went off to face his crucifixion.
that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them.
We can never hear these words enough.
