At the wedding feast of Cana, Jesus told his mother, “My hour has not yet come.” Now, in today’s gospel, which comes at the end of the last supper, Jesus notes that at last, “the hour has come.”
He speaks with the sad awareness “that the time had come for me to leave this world.” What follows is a most tender prayer from Jesus to the Father in the final hours before his passion and crucifixion. Most remarkably, as he faces his death, his prayer is not for himself, but for those he loves here on earth, his disciples — and for us.
He prays that the glory he receives through his upcoming sufferings may be a reflection of glory to the Father. The work he has been given to do on earth is nearly finished. Why is it finished? Because he has followers who will carry on this work. He speaks warmly of his disciples being connected in some intimate way with the Father. Jesus knows that his work will be carried on by those who believe in him and he offers a special prayer knowing that “these you have given me are really yours.”
It is not just the disciples at that supper who are missioned with carrying on Jesus’ work on earth — it is all of his followers, including us. We are loved and prayed for by Jesus, who now asks us to follow his path and to be Jesus for others when he is no longer physically present.
We were not at the table during the last supper, but in prayer we can sit in silence and feel the love and intimate friendship Jesus offers us. We are invited to live in that love, to be a part of the world in the way he has been and to love others as he has.
Today we can stop and ask ourselves, “How am I carrying on the work of Jesus?” We carry on a mission that began two thousand years ago. Jesus’ personal invitation to each one of us to continue that work is renewed each day.
Maureen McCann Waldron
The most important part of my life is my family – Jim my husband of 47 years and our two children. Our daughter Katy, a banker here in Omaha, and her husband John, have three wonderful children: Charlotte, Daniel and Elizabeth Grace. Our son Jack and his wife, Ellie, have added to our joy with their sons, Peter and Joseph.
I think family life is an incredible way to find God, even in (or maybe I should say, especially in) the most frustrating or mundane moments.
I am a native of the East Coast after graduating in 1971 from Archbishop John Carroll High School in suburban Philadelphia. I graduated from Creighton University in 1975 with a degree in Journalism and spent most of the next 20 years in corporate public relations in Omaha. I returned to Creighton in the 1990s and completed a master’s degree in Christian Spirituality in 1998.
As our children were growing up, my favorite times were always family dinners at home when the four of us would talk about our days. But now that our kids are gone from home, my husband and I have rediscovered how nice it is to have a quiet dinner together. I also have a special place in my heart for family vacations when the kids were little and four of us were away from home together. It’s a joy to be with my growing family.
Writing a Daily Reflection is always a graced moment, because only with God’s help could I ever write one. I know my own life is hectic, disjointed and imperfect and I know most of us have lives like that. I usually write from that point of view and I always seem to find some sentence, some word in the readings that speaks right to me, in all of my imperfection. I hope that whatever I write is in some way supportive of others.
It’s an incredibly humbling experience to hear from someone who was touched by something I wrote. Whether the note is from someone across campus or across the world, it makes me realize how connected we are all in our longing to grow closer to God.
