Jesus is the Standard for Love - John 17:20-26

If we were all suddenly a little younger and had a passion for basketball, for example, we might look to Michael Jordan, Stephen Curry, or one of the great female basketball stars in order to see how the game should be played. An aspiring writer might read Shakespeare or Hemmingway in order to see how writing should be done. If we want to know how to love, we look to Jesus who is the standard for love. Our focus on that standard brings us together in unity.
 
In his book, “the pursuit of God,” AW Tozer said this: “Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other?  They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to the standard to which each one must individually must bow.  So, one hundred worshipers (meeting) together, each one looking to Christ, are in heart, nearer to each other than they could possibly be, were they to come in “unity” focused not on God, but on trying to work things out on their own between each other.”
 
Today we hear the conclusion of Jesus' prayer at his last meal with the disciples. Jesus prays not only for the disciples, but for those as he says "who will believe in me through their word." In other words, he prays for us.
 
The prayer underlines the importance of remaining united to one another in Christ.  Only if Christians remain united in Christ, will evangelization be fruitful and enable others to come to believe.
 
It's interesting to look at the various commentaries that are available that discuss this Gospel, as it relates to Christ's plea for unity.  Some see it as a call to unify under the mantle of the Catholic Church. Others see it as a kind of charter for the ecumenical movement- bringing together Christians across all denominations.
 
The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that "Christ bestowed unity on his Church from the beginning", and that unity "subsists in the Catholic Church". This vision of unity comes from accepting that Christ is head and that he chose to lead us through Saint Peter and all the popes and bishops who came from his line of ordination.  Disunity, in their minds comes from the fraying from the Magisterium and its protection and explanations put forth of the teachings of Christ.
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The ecumenist sees this gospel as mandate for breaking down the divisions which set one group of people against another.   They point to St Paul speaking to the Galatians when he says that in Christ there is "no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus."
 
Both views are valid, but no matter from which lens we view this gospel, the tone of this prayer from the Son to the Father on the night before his death makes it clear that the avenue to get to unity is simply through Christ’s love.  As the Father and Jesus love each other, so does Jesus love his disciples, and so must his disciples love each other.
 
Only if the disciples, and all of us, remain in God's love, will we be able to see Jesus' glory, the glory that he has with the Father.  And, it would be natural to project forward that this prayer focused on unity driven through love, is one that Jesus makes to this day in intercession for each of us on our behalf.
 
Jesus prays for us to come together as one.  In fact, he sees us as one already. When Jesus looks at Christians, he does not see us as isolated individuals.  He recognizes us as persons, certainly, but as persons in community with one another.  He does not see us as apart from each other.  His vision is that we are one.  If Jesus sees us that way, the implication here is that we should see ourselves the same way.  
 
So, let us contemplate today the Father's love for the Son, and the Son's love for the Father, and know that the love they have for each of us can neither be taken away or enhanced because it is love at its fullest.  And let us use Christ's words today to remind us of the pleasure that he undoubtedly gets from our efforts to find common ground, to gather, to unite and to express our love for him through each other.  The answer to Christ's prayer... is us... whenever we ourselves humbly love one another.
 
So, let us pray for more unity in our families, in our parish, in our local community, and in our world.  Let's extend the prayer that Jesus offers to the Father, that the world may come to know that the Father loves all of us just as he loved his only Son.