The Gospel that we read today is what a sixteenth-century scholar called the "priestly prayer" of Christ. In the prayer, Christ, before he died, offered to sacrifice his own life as both priest and victim.

The glory that Jesus Christ the Son prays for is the glory of Resurrection. Now the hour that Jesus had worked for all his life has come. He gives glory to the Father by finishing the work the Father has given him; and the mission is to make the Father and the Son known to those who belong to God. As priest, Christ is offering himself in unity of the believers to the Father.

This prayer is more than between the Father and the Son. We the believers are the subject matter of a good part of the prayer. We are enveloped by the intensity and gentleness of the love between the Father and the Son. For us, to love and to be in love in an all-inclusive manner is living life eternal. It is living in God, for God is love.