From: 1 Peter 4:13-16
The Christian Meaning of Suffering (Continuation)
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Commentary:
12-19. St Peter now returns to the main theme of this part of the letter (3:13-4:
19) — the trials Christians unjustly suffer on account of being followers of Christ
(cf. 1:6-7; 2:18-25; 3:13-17). They should not be surprised or ashamed by this;
rather, it should make them happy and lead them to glorify God, for if they share
in Christ’s suffering it means they will also share in his exaltation. St John of Avi-
la wrote: “God wants to open our eyes and have us realize what favors are being
done us in things the world regards as disadvantages, and how honored we are
to be scoffed at for seeking the honor of God, and what great reward awaits us
for our present depression, and how God’s gentle, sweet and loving arms are o-
pened wide to receive those wounded in doing battle on his behalf’ (”Letter”,
58).
Moreover, the “spirit of God” will rest on them (v. 14): our Lord promised the spe-
cial assistance of the Holy Spirit to persecuted Christians hauled before courts
on account of their faith (cf. Mt 10:19-20); St Peter here calls him “the spirit of
glory”, because his indwelling in the Christian is a guarantee and an anticipation
of eternal glory (cf. 2 Cor 1:22).
Before the divine judgment which lies ahead (it is one of the frequent themes of
the letter) no one can be complacent (vv. 17-18). The Apostle’s severe warnings
are reminiscent of those Jesus gave the women of Jerusalem on his way to Cal-
vary: “if they do this when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
(Lk 23:31). However, if one has suffered on Christ’s account in this life it is clear
that one can approach the judgment with greater confidence (cf. Mt 5:11-12; 10:
32).
13. “To the prospect of the Kingdom of God,” Bl. John Paul II teaches, “ is linked
hope in that glory which has its beginning in the Cross of Christ. The Resurrection
revealed this glory — eschatological glory — which in the Cross of Christ was com-
pletely obscured by the immensity of suffering. Those who share in the suffering
of Christ are also called, through their own sufferings, to share in glory” (”Salvifici
Doloris”, 22).
16. This is one of the three places in the New Testament in which Christ’s disci-
ples are described as “Christians” (cf. Acts 11:26; 26:28). As St Luke explains
in Acts, they were first given this name in Antioch, the capital of the Roman pro-
vince of Syria (cf. Acts 11:26).
Being a Christian should never cause one to be cowed or ashamed; it should be
a motive for gratitude to God and for holy pride: “Christians who become cowed
or inhibited or envious in the face of the licentious behavior of those who have not
accepted the Word of God, show that they have a very poor idea of the faith. If
we truly keep the law of Christ—that is, if we make the effort to do so, because
we will not always fully succeed—we will find ourselves endowed with a wonderful
gallantry of spirit that does not need to look elsewhere to discover the full mea-
ning of human dignity” (St. J. Escrivá, “Friends of God”, 38).
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
From: John 17:1-11a
The Priestly Prayer of Jesus
[6] “I have manifested Thy name to the men who Thou gavest Me out of the world;
Thine they were, and Thou gavest them to Me, and they have kept Thy word. [7]
Now they know that everything Thou hast given Me is from Thee; [8] for I have
given them the words which Thou gavest Me, and they have received them and
know in truth that I came from Thee; and they have believed that thou didst send
Me. [9] I am praying for them; I am not praying for the world but for those whom
Thou hast given Me, for they are Thine; [10] all Mine are Thine, and Thine are
Mine, and I am glorified in them. [11a] And now I am no more in the world, but
they are in the world, and I am coming to Thee.”
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Commentary:
1-26. At the end of the discourse of the Last Supper (Chapters 13-16) begins
what is called the Priestly Prayer of Jesus, which takes up all of Chapter 17.
It is given that name because Jesus addresses His Father in a very moving dia-
logue in which, as Priest, He offers Him the imminent sacrifice of His passion
and death. It shows us the essential elements of His redemptive mission and
provides us with teaching and a model for our own prayer. “The Lord, the Only-
begotten and co-eternal with the Father, could have prayed in silence if neces-
sary, but He desired to show Himself to the Father in the attitude of a suppli-
cant because He is our Teacher. [...] Accordingly this prayer for His disciples
was useful not only to those who heard it, but to all who would read it” (St.
Augustine, “In Ioann. Evang.”, 104, 2).
The Priestly Prayer consists of three parts: in the first (verses 1-5) Jesus asks
for the glorification of His holy human nature and the acceptance, by His Father,
of His sacrifice on the cross. In the second part (verses 6-19) He prays for His
disciples, whom He is going to send out into the world to proclaim the redemp-
tion which He is now about to accomplish. And then (verses 20-26) He prays
for unity among all those who will believe in Him over the course of the centu-
ries until they achieve full union with Him in Heaven.
1-5. The word “glory” here refers to the splendor, power and honor which ‘belong
to God’. The Son is God equal to the Father, and from the time of His Incarnation
and birth and especially through His death and resurrection His divinity has been
made manifest. “We have beheld His glory, glory as the only Son from the Father”
(John 1:14). The glorification of Jesus has three dimensions to it. 1) It promotes
the glory of the Father, because Christ, in obedience to God’s redemptive decree
(cf. Philippians 2:6), makes the Father known and so brings God’s saving work to
completion. 2) Christ is glorified because His divinity, which He has voluntarily dis-
guised, will eventually be manifested through His human nature which will be seen
after the Resurrection invested with the very authority of God Himself over all crea-
tion (verses 2, 5). 3) Christ, through His glorification, gives man the opportunity to
attain eternal life, to know God the Father and Jesus Christ, His only Son: this in
turn redounds to the glorification of the Father and of Jesus Christ while also invol-
ving man’s participation in divine glory (verse 3).
“The Son glorifies You, making You known to all those You have given Him. Fur-
thermore, if the knowledge of God is life eternal, we the more tend to life, the
more we advance in this knowledge. [...] There shall the praise of God be without
end, where there shall be full knowledge of God; and because in Heaven this know-
ledge shall be full, there shall glorifying be of the highest” (St. Augustine, “In Ioann.
Evang.”, 105, 3).
6-8. Our Lord has prayed for Himself; now He prays for His Apostles, who will con-
tinue His redemptive work in the world. In praying for them, Jesus describes some
of the prerogatives of those who will form part of the Apostolic College.
First, there is the prerogative of being chosen by God: “Thine they were...”. God
the Father chose them from all eternity (cf. Ephesians 1:3-4) and in due course
Jesus revealed this to them: “The Lord Jesus, having prayed at length to the Fa-
ther, called to Himself those whom He willed and appointed twelve to be with Him,
whom He might send to preach the Kingdom of God (cf. Mark 3:13-19; Matthew
10:1-42). These apostles (cf. Luke 6:13) He constituted in the form of a college or
permanent assembly, at the head of which He placed Peter, chosen from among
them (cf. John 21:15-17)” (Vatican II, “Lumen Gentium”, 19). Also, the Apostles
enjoy the privilege of hearing God’s teaching direct from Jesus. From this teaching,
which they accept with docility, they learn that Jesus came from the Father and
that therefore He is God’s envoy (verse 8): that is, they are given to know the rela-
tionships that exist between the Father and the Son.
The Christian, who also is a disciple of Jesus, gradually acquires knowledge of
God and of divine things through living a life of faith and maintaining a personal
relationship with Jesus Christ.
“Recalling this human refinement of Christ, who spent His life in the service of
others, we are doing much more than describing a pattern of human behavior; we
are discovering God. Everything Christ did has a transcendental value. It shows
us the nature of God and beckons us to believe in the love of God who created us
and wants us to share His intimate life” (St. J. Escriva, “Christ Is Passing By”,
109).
11-19. Jesus now asks the Father to give His disciple four things—unity, perseve-
rance, joy and holiness. By praying Him to keep them in His name (verse 11) He
is asking for their perseverance in the teaching He has given them (cf. verse 6)
and in communion with Him. An immediate consequence of this perseverance is
unity: “that they may be one, even as We are one”; this unity which He asks for
His disciples is a reflection of the unity of the Three Divine Persons.
He also prays that none of them should be lost, that the Father should guard and
protect them, just as He Himself protected them while He was with them. Thirdly,
as a result of their union with God and perseverance they will share in the joy of
Christ (verse 13): in this life, the more we know God and the more closely we are
joined to Him, the happier will we be; in eternal life our joy will be complete, be-
cause our knowledge and love of God will have reached its climax.
Finally, He prays for those who, though living in the world, are not of the world,
that they may be truly holy and carry out the mission He has entrusted to them,
just as He did the work His Father gave Him to do.
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.