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In the Unity of the Trinity, Jn 17

Lourdes Pinto, 5/20/21

John 17 is a unique opportunity to see the nature and heart of Jesus. 

“Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you” (17:1)

• It is the cross (see John 12:27-33, 13:30-33, 21:18-19) that will glorify the Son. The cross was utter humiliation to the world, but it was an instrument of glorification in God’s eyes. This is an aspect of the foolishness and weakness of the cross (1 Corinthians 1:18, 1:23-25).

“And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.” (17:19)

• Jesus sanctifies (consecrates) Himself for us, meaning He sacrifices Himself to the Father for us. This perfect consecration of Jesus opened the curtain so that we can participate in the oneness of the Trinity. Yet, this entering into the unity of God is only possible if we, as the Body of Christ, voluntarily choose, for love of God, to participate in His consecration which is His sacrifice. Only through, with, and in Jesus crucified can we enter the inner chamber, which is the Heart of Christ, to live in the embrace of the Father with the Holy Spirit.
•  “To men, the cross appeared an instrument of shame. To Christ it was the means of true glory.” (Morris)
• “But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed.” (1 Peter 4:13)

“I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.” (Col.1:24)

“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.” (17:26)

The prayer of Jesus in John 17 reveals Divine Love, the Trinity. It is the Holy Spirit, received from the pierced Heart of Jesus crucified, that brings us to KNOW the love of the Son and the Father. It is the Holy Spirit that brings me to PARTICIPATE in the deepest prayer and longing of the Son as I also pray: 

• “Father, glorify your daughter as one with your Son so that your daughter may glorify you.”
• “And for their sakes I sanctify myself through Christ, with Christ and in Christ, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.” 

I listen in SA at times to brothers and sisters complaining of their suffering, a tendency that I also see in myself. Yet the Spirit always moves me in spiritual accompaniment to see the glory of that suffering in Christ. If I am suffering great mental and physical exhaustion and this suffering in Christ is bringing graces to my LC family, is it not worth it to me? Is it not an opportunity to glorify the Father and Son? If someone is suffering physical ailments and that suffering saved their soul, is it not worth suffering in gratuitous love? If that physical suffering suffered through Christ, with Christ, and in Christ is saving the souls of their family, is it not an occasion to rejoice? Then why is it so difficult for us? 

We are complicated because of sin, and God is SIMPLE. The way to unity is simple, but for us, it’s difficult because of our brokenness, woundedness, self-centeredness, etc.  

Let’s journey the Simple Path from its beginning to the summit of unity in the Trinity to understand how God has been guiding us through His Spirit to union in Him—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

• My Gaze Penetrates All Darkness,   –Simple Path 16, p.59 (ch.2)
• My desire for you, My thirst for each of you, is to make you My living icons. My little ones, suffer all with Me,