Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you, just as you gave him authority over all people, so that your son may give eternal life to all you gave him . . . . I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me, because they are yours, and everything of mine is yours and everything of yours is mine, and I have been glorified in them. And now I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, while I am coming to you.” (Jn 17: 1-2, 9-11a)

The 17th chapter of the Fourth Gospel has been called the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus. And it is interesting in that we get to “overhear” Jesus praying. And what a prayer! Like an Old Testament king praying for the troops before a battle, Jesus prays for the disciples. As the Letter to the Hebrews says: Jesus lives to make intercession for us (Hebrews 7:25).