Gospel: Jn 16:23b-28
*
JESUS said to his disciples: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you. Until now you have not asked anything in my name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.
“I have told you this in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures but I will tell you clearly about the Father. On that day you will ask in my name, and I do not tell you that I will ask the Father for you. For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have come to believe that I came from God. I came from the Father and have come into the world. Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”
* * *
If the disciples ask “in the name of Jesus,” the Father will surely give. As long as the disciples maintain intimate closeness with Jesus and his Spirit, they will also be united with the Father who is ever one with Jesus. To ask “in the name of Jesus,” we must have confidence that we are attuned to God’s image and honor, since we cannot ask what is contrary to God’s will and glory.
In Church liturgy, the priest usually ends prayers and petitions with: “Through Christ our Lord” or “We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord” or “Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ.” This expression “Through Christ” means not only agreement with the content of the prayer but also recognition of Christ’s role as mediator between God and the human race, indeed as the “one mediator” (cf 1 Tm 2:5). Jesus becomes the bridge that establishes a new relationship between the believer and God. We are able to approach God, not with our own merits, but through Jesus, the new high priest.
* * *
SOURCE: “365 Days with the Lord 2020,” ST. PAULS Philippines, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 895-9701; Fax 895-7328; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.
