Gospel (Jn 16:23-28)

Jesus said to his disciples:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father, he will give it to you in my name. Hitherto you have asked nothing in my name; ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

“I have said this to you in figures; the hour is coming when I shall no longer speak to you in figures but tell you plainly of the Father. In that day you will ask in my name; and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from the Father. I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”

Commentary

Jesus made use of several comparisons in his preaching to encourage people to persevere in their petition to God: faith like a mustard seed, the parable of the widow and the unjust judge, that of the untimely friend…. Now, without comparisons, he reveals that every petition should be addressed to the Father in the name of Jesus. The disciples would have been surprised to hear the words “in my name.” It was like telling them: “Mine is the Name of God.” In Him they have the Son of God, who is in full communion with God the Father. Saint Paul told Timothy: “there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim 2:5).

The disciples, especially in the recitation of the Psalms, were already asking God trustingly, praising him and giving thanks, invoking the name of the Lord: “I will praise the Lord for his righteousness; I will sing to the Name of the Lord Most High” (cf. Ps 7:18). “I rejoice in You, and sing hymns to your Name, O Lord Most High! (cf. Ps 9:3). “The Lord answer you in the day of trouble! The name of the God of Jacob protect you! . . . Some boast of chariots, and some of horses; but we boast of the name of the Lord our God” (Ps 20:1.7). And they had learned from Jesus himself the best way to pray: “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name.” Now they discover that the Name of the Lord is “Jesus,” who is speaking to them, in whom they can place all their trust.

All our prayer must follow this path: going to the Father “through Jesus Christ our Lord,” as we already do continually in liturgical prayer. Perhaps we often notice how weak our faith is, and we make our own the Apostles’ request: “Increase our faith” (Lk 17:5). And our union with Him grows, until we pray with ever greater conviction: “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Saint Josemaría often prayed this beautiful prayer of petition: “May the most just and most lovable will of God be done, be fulfilled, be praised and eternally exalted above all things. Amen, Amen.”^[1]

^[1] Saint Josemaria, The Way, no. 691.