Gospel (Jn 17,20-26) - At that time, [Jesus, raising his eyes to heaven, prayed, saying:] «I do not pray only for these, but also for those who believe in me through their word: that they may all be one; as you, Father, are in me and I in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you sent me. And the glory that you gave to me, I gave to them, so that they may be one thing just as we are one thing. I in them and you in me, so that they may be perfect in unity and the world may know that you sent me and that you loved them as you loved me. »Father, I want those you have given me to also be with me where I am, so that they may contemplate my glory, which you have given me; for you loved me before the creation of the world. Righteous Father, the world has not known you, but I have known you, and these have known that you sent me. And I have made your name known to them and I will make it known, so that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them."

The commentary on the Gospel by Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia

This evangelical page reports the third and last part of the "priestly prayer" of Jesus. The walls of the cenacle seem to widen and the prayer always opens the heart to new perspectives, so in the eyes of Jesus a large group of men and women from from every part of the earth, waiting for consolation and peace. Jesus prays for this vast people and asks the Father: «So that they may all be one; as you, Father, are in me and I in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you sent me." Jesus asks that they be a true brotherhood of men and women, of the healthy and the sick, of small and large. On the other hand, it is precisely this unity that qualifies Jesus' disciples and makes them credible in the world. Men and women of any generation – says Jesus – will believe the Gospel to the extent that the disciples bear witness to mutual love. Jesus establishes a direct relationship between the love of the disciples and the communication of the Gospel. Without the testimony of mutual love there can be no Christian mission, nor credible evangelization. We must have more courage in asking ourselves if we are truly a ferment of love, of unity, of solidarity, of communion. The risk of individualizing Christianity should not be underestimated, on the contrary it is often a very widespread reality. This is why the mission is so often weak and not very effective. Those who experience the beauty of this love know that nothing can break it. Not even death. And the unity among the disciples is the prophecy of the Church to the resigned contemporary world. There is no organization, not even the most technically perfect, that can replace the love between brothers. This is also the secret of the effectiveness of the Church's mission today.