We come this weekend closer to the end of the Easter Season and are given a well-known Gospel passage from John. It is well known, but not very easily understood. In no other faith do we get an “inside look” at the communication of God (the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). Here, we have Jesus praying to the Father. He lifts His eyes to the Father the way a child lifts his eyes to his father to speak with him.

But the communication between Father and Son doesn’t sound like a communication we would have with our fathers or our sons:

“Holy Father, I pray not only for them,  but also for those who will believe in me through their word,  so that they may all be one,  as you, Father, are in me and I in you,  that they also may be in us,  that the world may believe that you sent me.  And I have given them the glory you gave me,  so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me.”

Yea.  Definitely not the communication we would have with our fathers. How is the Father and the Son one?  How can we be in them?  Well, when we think about our own families, we can get a glimpse into what Jesus is talking about.

When we look at our relationships with our parents, or parents with your children, the most foundational piece is the love we share with one another. Yea, we fight and complain at times and that’s just our weak humanity kicking in, but at the core, we love one another. This love in the family, also makes us similar to our parents (whether we like it or not).  We carry the same traits as them and even on a biological level this is true (i.e. thanks to both my grandparents for being bald because that’s where I’m heading).  When we see the similarities we have with our parents that make us our mother and father’s children, then we can begin to see how Jesus and the Father are one.

Ok the divine scale, the love shared between the Father and the Son is something we can’t truly wrap our minds around. But our own families mirror this love.  Just as the love of our earthly parents exist within us and our similarities, so the Father and the Son share in a much more grand love that defines them both. The Father loves the Son. The Son receives that love and returns His love to the Father. And so, the love of the Father exists in the Son.  The Father and the Son, then, are one. And the best part?  They want us to share in that love.  To be IN it.  They want us to share in that love in our own personal relationship with them first through our prayer life and by participating in the Sacraments of the Church and by our study of the Traditions and Scripture.  Then they also want us to share in that love through our families and strive to be a better reflection of the love between the Father and Son through parenting.

Our faith is all about relationships.  Just as the Father loves the Son, so we are also called to love our families.  It is the way we remain in His love. It is the way we are “brought to perfection”.  It is something to strive for this week.

May the Lord give you His peace,

-Fr. Bob