Catena Aurea by St. Thomas Aguinas
11. And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
12. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
13. And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lxxxi) As the disciples were still sad in spite of all our Lord’s consolations, henceforth He addresses Himself to the Father to shew the love which He had for them; I pray for them; He not only gives them what He has of His own, but entreats another for them, as a still further proof of His love.
AUGUSTINE. (Tr. cvi) When He adds, I pray not for the world, by the world He means those who live according to the lust of the world, and have not the lot to be chosen by grace out of the world, as those had for whom He prayed: But for them which Thou hast given Me. It was because the Father had given Him them, that they did not belong to the world. Nor yet had the Father, in giving them to the Son, lost what He had given: For they are Thine.
CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lxxxi. 1) He often repeats, Thou hast given Me, to impress on them that it was all according to the Father’s will, and that He did not come to rob another, but to take unto Him His own. Then to shew them that this power1 had not been lately received from the Father, He adds, And all Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine: as if to say, Let no one, hearing Me say, Them which Thou hast given Me, suppose that they are separated from the Father; for Mine are His: nor because I said, They are Thine, suppose that they are separate from Me: for whatever is His is Mine.
AUGUSTINE. (Tr. cvi. 6) It is sufficiently apparent from hence, that all things which the Father hath, the Only-Begotten Son hath; hath in that He is God, born from the Father, and equal with the Father; not in the sense in which the elder son is told, All that I have is thine. (Luke 15:31) For all there means all creatures below the holy rational creature, but here it means the very rational creature itself, which is only subjected to God. Since this is God the Father’s, it could not at the same time be God the Son’s, unless the Son were equal to the Father. For it is impossible that saints, of whom this is said, should be the property of any one, except Him who created and sanctified them. When He says above in speaking of the Holy Spirit, All things that the Father hath are Mine, (c. 16:15) He means all things which pertain to the divinity of the Father; for He adds, He (the Holy Ghost) shall receive of Mine; and the Holy Ghost would not receive from a creature which was subject to the Father and the Son.
CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lxxxi) Then He gives proof of this, I am glorified in them. If they glorify Me, believing in Me and Thee, it is certain that I have power over them: for no one is glorified by those amongst whom he has no power.
AUGUSTINE. (Tr. cvii. 3) He speaks of this as already done, meaning that it was predestined, and sure to be. But is this the glorifying of which He speaks above, And now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own Self? If then with Thyself, what meaneth here, In them? Perhaps that this very thing, i. e. His glory with the Father, was made known to them, and through them to all that believe.
CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lxxxi) And now I am no more in the world: i. e. though I no longer appear in the flesh, I am glorified by those who die for Me, as for the Father, and preach Me as the Father.
AUGUSTINE. (Tr. cvii. 4) At the time at which He was speaking, both were still in the world. Yet we must not understand, I am no more in the world, metaphorically of the heart and life; for could there ever have been a time when He loved the things of the world? It remains then that He means that He was not in the world, as He had been before; i. e. that He was soon going away. Do we not say every day, when any one is going to leave us, or going to die, such an one is gone? This is shewn to be the sense by what follows; for He adds, And now I come to Thee. And then He commends to His Father those whom He was about to leave: Holy Father, keep through Thine own name those whom Thou hast given Me. As man He prays God for His disciples, whom He received from God. But mark what follows: That they may be one, as We are: He does not say, That they may be one with Us, as We are one; but, that they may be one: that they may be one in their nature, as We are one in Ours. For, in that He was God and man in one person, as man He prayed, as God He was one with Him to Whom He prayed.
AUGUSTINE. (iv. de Trin. c. ix) He does not say, That I and they maybe one, though He might have said so in the sense, that He was the head of the Church, and the Church His body; not one thing, but one person: the head and the body being one Christ. But shewing something else, viz. that His divinity is consubstantial with the Father, He prays that His people may in like manner be one; but one in Christ, not only by the same nature, in which mortal man is made equal to the Angels, but also by the same will, agreeing most entirely in the same mind, and melted into one Spirit by the fire of love. This is the meaning of, That they may be one as We are: viz. that as the Father and the Son are one not only by equality of substance, but also in will, so they, between whom and God the Son is Mediator, may be one not only by the union of nature, but by the union of love.
CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lxxxi) Again He speaks as man: While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Thy name; i. e. by Thy help. He speaks in condescension to the minds of His disciples, who thought they were more safe in His presence.
AUGUSTINE. (Tr. cvii. 6) The Son as man kept His disciples in the Father’s name, being placed among them in human form: the Father again kept them in the Son’s name, in that He heard those who asked in the Son’s name. But we must not take this carnally, as if the Father and Son kept us in turns, for the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost guard us at the same time: but Scripture does not raise us, except it stoop to us. Let us understand then that when our Lord says this, He is distinguishing the persons, not dividing the nature, so that when the Son was keeping His disciples by His bodily presence, the Father was waiting to succeed Him on His departure; but both kept them by spiritual power, and when the Son withdrew His bodily presence, He still held with the Father the spiritual keeping. For when the Son as man received them into His keeping, He did not take them from the Father’s keeping, and when the Father gave them into the Son’s keeping, it was to the Son as man, who at the same time was God. Those that Thou gavest Me I have kept, and none of them is lost but the son of perdition; i. e. the betrayer of Christ, predestined to perdition; that the Scripture might be fulfilled, especially the prophecy in Psalm 108.
CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lxxxi) He was the only one indeed who perished then, but there were many after. None of them is lost, i. e. as far as I am concerned; as He says above more clearly; I will in no wise cast out. But when they cast themselves out, I will not draw them to Myself by dint of compulsion. It follows: And now I come to Thee. But some one might ask, Canst Thou not keep them? I can. Then why sayest Thou this? That they may have My joy fulfilled in them, i. e. that they may not be alarmed in their as yet imperfect state.
AUGUSTINE. (Tr. cvii) Or thus: That they might have the joy spoken of above: That they may be one, as We are one. This His joy, i. e. bestowed by Him, He says, is to be fulfilled in them: on which account He spoke thus in the world. This joy is the peace and happiness of the life to come. He says He spoke in the world, though He had just now said, I am no more in the world. For, inasmuch as He had not yet departed, He was still here; and inasmuch as He was going to depart, He was in a certain sense not here.
17:14–19
14. I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
15. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
16. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
17. Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth.
18. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
19. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lxxxii) Again, our Lord gives a reason why the disciples are worthy of obtaining such favour from the Father: I have given them Thy word; and the world hath hated them; i. e. They are had in hatred for Thy sake, and on account of Thy word.
AUGUSTINE. (Tr. cviii) They had not yet experienced these sufferings which they afterwards met with; but, after His custom, He puts the future into the past tense. Then He gives the reason why the world haled them; viz. Because they are not of the world. This was conferred upon them by regeneration; for by nature they were of the world. It was given to them that they should not be of the world, even as He was not of the world; as it follows; Even as I am not of the world. He never was of the world; for even His birth of the form of a servant He received from the Holy Ghost, from Whom they were born again. But though they were no longer of the world, it was still necessary that they should be in the world: I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world.
BEDE. As if to say, The time is now at hand, when I shall be taken out of the world; and therefore it is necessary that they should be still left in the world, in order to preach Me and Thee to the world. But that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil; every evil, but especially the evil of schism.
AUGUSTINE. (Tr. cviii) He repeats the same thing again; They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lxxxii. 1) Above, when He said, Them whom Thou gavest Me out of the world, He meant their nature; here He means their actions. They are not of the world; because they have nothing in common with earth, they are made citizens of heaven. Wherein He shews His love for them, thus praising them to the Father. The word as when used with respect to Him and the Father expresses likeness of nature; but between us and Christ there is immense distance. Keep them from the evil, i. e. not from dangers only, but from falling away from the faith.
AUGUSTINE. (Tr. cviii) Sanctify them through Thy truth: for thus were they to be kept from the evil. But it may be asked, how it was that they were not of the world, when they were not yet sanctified in the truth? Because the sanctified have still to grow in sanctity, and this by the help of God’s grace. The heirs of the New Testament are sanctified in that truth, the shadows of which were the sanctification of the Old Testament; they are sanctified in Christ, Who said above, I am the way, the truth, and the life. (c. 14:6) It follows, Thy discourse is truth. The Greek is λόγος, i. e. word. The Father then sanctified them in the truth, i. e. in His Word the Only-Begotten, them, i. e. the heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.
CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lxxxii) Or thus: Sanctify them in Thy truth; i. e. Make them holy, by the gift of the Holy Spirit, and sound doctrines: for sound doctrines give knowledge of God, and sanctify the soul. And as He is speaking of doctrines, He adds, Thy word is truth, i. e. there is in it no lie, nor any thing typical, or bodily. Again, Sanctify them in Thy truth, may mean, Separate them for the ministry of the word, and preaching.
GLOSS. As Thou hast sent Me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. For what Christ was sent into the world, for the same end were they; as saith Paul, God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself; and hath given to us the word of reconciliation. (2 cor. 5:19) As does not express perfect likeness between our Lord and His Apostles, but only as much as was possible in men. Have sent them, He says, according to His custom of putting the past for the future.
AUGUSTINE. (Tr. cviii) It is manifest by this, that He is still speaking of the Apostles; for the very word Apostle means in the Greek, sent. But since they are His members, in that He is the Head of the Church, He says, And for their sakes I sanctify Myself; i. e. I in Myself sanctify them, since they are Myself. And to make it more clear that this was His meaning, He adds, That they also might be sanctified through the truth, i. e. in Me; inasmuch as the Word is truth, in which the Son of man was sanctified from the time that the Word was made flesh. For then He sanctified Himself in Himself, i. e. Himself as man, in Himself as the Word: the Word and man being one Christ. But of His members it is that He saith, And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, i. e. them in Me, since in Me both they and I are. That they also might be sanctified in truth: they also, i. e. even as Myself; and in the truth, i. e. Myself.
CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lxxxii) Or thus: For their sakes I sanctify Myself, i. e. I offer Myself as a sacrifice to Thee; for all sacrifices, and things that are offered to God, are called holy. And whereas this sanctification was of old in figure, (a sheep being the sacrifice,) but now in truth, He adds, That they also might be sanctified through the truth; i. e. For I make them too an oblation to Thee; either meaning that He who was offered up was their head, or that they would be offered up too: as the Apostle saith, Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy. (Rom. 12:1)
Catena Aurea John 17
NAVARRE BIBLE COMMENTARY (RSV)
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)
From: Acts 20:28-38
Speech of Farewell to the Elders of Ephesus (Continuation)
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(Paul said to the elders of the church,) [28] "Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you guardians, to feed the church of the Lord which he obtained with his own blood. [29] I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; [30] and from among your own selves will arise men speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. [31] Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears. [32] And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. [33] I coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. [34] You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities, and to those who were with me. [35] In all things I have shown you that by so toiling one must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"
[36] And when he had spoken thus, he knelt down and prayed with them all. [37] And they all wept and embraced Paul and kissed him, [38] sorrowing most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they should see his face no more. And they brought him to the ship.
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Commentary:
28. Using a metaphor often found in the New Testament to describe the people of God (Ps 100:3; Is 40:11; Jer 13:17), Paul describes the Church as a flock and its guardians or bishops ("episcopos") as shepherds. "The Church is a sheepfold, the sole and necessary gateway to which is Christ (Jn 10:1-10). It is also a flock, of which God foretold that he would himself be the shepherd (cf. Is 40:11; Ex 34:11f), and whose sheep, although watched over by human shepherds, are nevertheless at all times led and brought to pasture by Christ himself, the Good Shepherd and prince of shepherds (cf. Jn 10:11; l Pet 5:4), who gave his life for his sheep (cf. Jn 10:11-16)" (Vatican II, "Lumen Gentium", 6).
In the early days of the Church the terms "priest" and "bishop" had not yet become defined: they both refer to sacred ministers who have received the sacrament of priestly Order.
The last part of the verse refers to Christ's sacrifice: through his redeeming action, the Church has become God's special property. The price of Redemption was the blood of Christ. Paul VI says that Christ, the Lamb of God, took to "himself the sins of the world, and he died for us, nailed to the Cross, saving us by his redeeming blood" ("Creed of the People of God", 12).
The Council of Trent speaks of this when it presents the Redemption as an act of "his beloved Only-begotten, our Lord Jesus Christ, who...merited justification for us by his most holy Passion on the wood of the Cross and made satisfaction for us to God the Father" ("De Iustificatione", 7).
30. Errors derive not only from outsiders: they are also the product of members of the Church who abuse their position as brethren and even as pastors, leading the people astray by taking advantage of their good will. "It is of this that John writes, 'They went out from us, but they were not of us' [1 Jn 2:19]" (St Bede, "Super Act Expositio, ad loc".).
31. "Here he shows that he actually taught them and did not proclaim the teaching once only, just to ease his conscience" (Chrysostom, "Hom. on Acts", 44). Paul did not avoid the pastoral work which fell to him; he set an example of what a bishop should be. "Those who rule the community must perform worthily the tasks of government. [...] There is a danger that some who concern themselves with others and guide them towards eternal life may ruin themselves without realizing it. Those who are in charge must work harder than others, must be humbler than those under them, must in their own lives give an example of service, and must regard their subjects as a deposit which God has given them in trust" (St Gregory of Nyssa, "De Instituto Christiano").
32. "It is not right for Christians to give such importance to human action that they think all the laurels depend on their efforts: their expectation of reward should be subject to the will of God" ("ibid".).
33-35. "The teachings of the Apostle of the Gentiles [...] have key importance for the morality and spirituality of human work. They are an important complement to the great though discreet gospel of work that we find in the life and parables of Christ, in what Jesus 'did and taught' " (John Paul II, "Laborem Exercens", 26).
This saying of our Lord (v. 35) is not recorded in the Gospels.
36. For Christians every situation is suitable for prayer: "The Christian prays everywhere", Clement of Alexandria writes, "and in every situation, whether it be when taking a walk or in the company of friends, or while he is resting, or at the start of some spiritual work. And when he reflects in the interior of his soul and invokes the Father with unspeakable groanings" ("Stromata", VII, 7).
37. They kiss Paul to show their affection for him and how moved they are. This is not the liturgical "kiss of peace". In the East kisses are a common expression of friendship and good manners like handshaking in the West.
From: John 17:11b-19The Priestly Prayer of Jesus (Continuation)
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(Jesus lifted his eyes to heaven and said, ) [11b] "Holy Father, keep them in thy name, which thou has given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. [12] While I was with them, I kept them in thy name, which thou hast given me; I have guarded them, and none of them is lost but the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled. [13] But now I am coming to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. [14] I have given them thy word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world. [15] I do not pray that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou shouldst keep them from the evil one. [16] They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. [17] Sanctify them in the truth; thy word is truth. [18] As thou didst send me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. [19] And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be consecrated in truth.
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Commentary:
11-19. Jesus now asks the Father to give his disciples four things--unity, perseverance, joy and holiness. By praying him to keep them in his name (v. 11) he is asking for their perseverance in the teaching he has given them (cf. v. 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 still with them. Thirdly, as a result of their union with God and perseverance they will share in the joy of Christ (v. 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, because 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.
12. "That the scripture might be fulfilled": this is an allusion to what he said to the Apostles a little earlier (Jn 13:18) by directly quoting Scripture: "He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me" (Ps 41:10). Jesus makes these references to Judas' treachery in order to strengthen the Apostles' faith by showing that he knew everything in advance and that the Scriptures had already foretold what would happen.
However, Judas went astray through his own fault and not because God arranged things that way; his treachery had been taking shape little by little, through his petty infidelities, and despite our Lord helping him to repent and get back on the right rode (cf. note on Jn 13:21-32); Judas did not respond to this grace and was responsible for his own downfall. God, who sees the future, predicted the treachery of Judas in the Scripture; Christ, being God, knew that Judas would betray him and it is with immense sorrow that he now tells the Apostles.
14-16. In Sacred Scripture "world" has a number of meanings. First, it means the whole of creation (Gen 1:1ff) and, within creation, mankind, which God loves most tenderly (Prov 8:31). This is the meaning intended here when our Lord says, "I do not pray that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou shouldst keep them from the evil one" (v. 15). "I have taught this constantly using words from holy Scripture. The world is not evil, because it has come from God's hands, because it is his creation, because Yahweh looked upon it and saw that it was good (cf. Gen 1:7ff). We ourselves, mankind, make it evil and ugly with our sins and infidelities. Have no doubt: any kind of evasion from the honest realities of daily life is for you, men and women of the world, something opposed to the will of God" ([St] J. Escriva, "Conversations", 114).
In the second place, "world" refers to the things of this world, which do not last and which can be at odds with the things of the spirit (cf. Mt 16:26).
Finally, because evil men have been enslaved by sin and by the devil, "the ruler of the world" (Jn 12:31; 16:11), the "world" sometimes means God's enemy, something opposed to Christ and his followers (Jn 1:10). In this sense the "world" is evil, and therefore Jesus is not of the world, nor are his disciples (v. 16). It is also this pejorative meaning which is used by traditional teaching which describes the world, the flesh and the devil as enemies of the soul against which one has to be forever vigilant. "The world, the flesh and the devil are a band of adventurers who take advantage of the weakness of that savage you bear within you, and want you to hand over to them, in exchange for the glittering tinsel of a pleasure--which is worth nothing--the pure gold and the pearls and the diamonds and rubies drenched in the life-blood of your God-Redeemer, which are the price and the treasure of your eternity" (St J. Escriva, "The Way", 708).
17-19. Jesus prays for the holiness of his disciples. God alone is the Holy One; in his holiness people and things share. "Sanctifying" has to do with consecrating and dedicating something to God, excluding it from being used for profane purposes; thus God says to Jeremiah: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations" (Jer 1:5). If something is to be consecrated to God it must be perfect, that is, holy. Hence, a consecrated person needs to have moral sanctity, needs to be practising the moral virtues. Our Lord here asks for both things for his disciples, because they need them if they are to fulfill their supernatural mission in the world.
"For their sake I consecrate myself": these words mean that Jesus Christ, who has been burdened with the sins of men, consecrates himself to the Father through his sacrifice on the Cross. By this are all Christians sanctified: "So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood" (Heb 13:12). So, after Christ's death, men have been made sons of God by Baptism, sharers in the divine nature and enabled to attain the holiness to which they have been called (cf. Vatican II, "Lumen Gentium", 40).
