On these days leading up to the celebration of Pentecost, we read in St John's gospel, the personal prayer of Jesus to His Father as He was about to depart physically from His close disciples. He speaks with His Father about them and prays for them. He refers to them as "those whom you gave me", who "have believed that you sent me". We who come today to spend time with Him in prayer are surely included among those who have believed, whom the Father has chosen. But we may feel our faith is weak and that we're not really sure about being chosen by the Father. Let's not make that an excuse, but rather an incentive to remember and begin to appreciate that our faith and our being chosen are God's gift, His grace for us to work with. It's Jesus' desire for us, too, to have eternal life and be protected in God's name. So let our response to Jesus' words be the great desire to trust Him more deeply, become more intimately aware of "being chosen" and of receiving His "eternal life". Let this be the subject of our dialogue with Him today. And especially may those words of His take deep root in our consciousness and prayer: "This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent."