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22. "Et ego claritatem quam dedisti mihi dedi eis, ut sint unum sicut et nos unum sumus.

23. "Ego in eis, et tu in me, ut sint consummati in unum, et cognoscat mundus quia tu me misisti, et dilexisti eos sicut et me dilexisti.

22. And the glory which1thou hast given me 'I have given to them; that they may be one. as we also are one:

23. I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made 'perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them, as thou hast also loved

me.

Union and fraternal charity are the two bonds which Our Lord prays for wherewith to unite the faithful and keep them knit to each other as well as to their Spiritual Head.

He now, at the end of the prayer, lets us see what He has done to secure this union. The glory which thou hast given me I have given to them. This is the bond. Now what is the glory?

Some commentators think it the gift of miracles. These do not unite people and were not much in the way of spiritual cement in the time of Our Lord Himself. Some think it is His Sonship which is given by adoption to those whom He chooses to call His friends and brethren.

Some more think it is the brothership which He has formed amongst us by assuming our human nature. He got very little glory for that during His life, and indeed His death was anything but glorious.

The Greek Aoğa, and the Latin claritas, here translated glory, mean something more. A bright thing uniting people.

The opinion which seems to gain most ground amongst modern Catholic commentators, and which rests on the authority of such men as SS. Cyril and Hilary, Leontias, Toletus, Lucas Brugensis, Beelen and F. Corluy pleases us most.

It has a Catholic from every Catholic nation in favour of it, and answers all the requirements of the text to perfection.

That glory which He had given was the BLESSED EUCHARIST. He then gave His Divinity even to all children of the Church. This is the glory that deified, in a certain sense, His human nature, and raised man higher by far than he deserved. It was

little less than the angels in the time of the Psalmist, it is somewhat considerably more now.

Then the requirements of the text demand that the glory given should be a bond of union. What answers this like the Eucharist which He had just given them within a short hour previous to this prayer?

Here was a Sacrament for which every one is obliged to prepare by placing himself in a state of grace. Let a man prove himself, as S. Paul has it, and thus eat of this body. Now an essential condition for absolution is to be in peace and charity with all one's neighbours. This is a condition of reconciliation with God first; and a very special condition. "If therefore thou offer thy gift at the altar, and there thou remember that thy brother hath anything against thee, leave there thy offering before the altar, and go first to be reconciled to thy brother: and then coming thou shalt offer thy gift."-S. Matthew, v. 23-24. This is taught by the Catholic Church and insisted upon as a condition for receiving the Holy Eucharist.

Then the sacred table is a convivium which pre-supposes friendship, or which ought to foster if not create it.

All are equal before the altar of God. The poor beggar and the king are on a perfect level at this table. There is no distinction here, except between those who receive worthily and those who do not.

Sumunt boni sumunt mali,
Sorte tamen inæquali

Vitæ vel interitus :

Mors est malis vita bonis

Vide paris sumptionis

Quam sit dispar exitus.-LAUDA SION.

This difference is not known save to God; and if known to the priest, as confessor, must not be acted on.

The other bonds of union which arise from, and are strengthened by the Eucharist, are almost innumerable.

From this we have the Hierarchy and the different Orders in the Church.

Painting, sculpture, architecture, music, eloquence, learning, are all united in a holy bond of universal charity by the Eucharist and the churches built for ITS reception.

This then is evidently the glory which He received, and the

glory which He gave. It is nothing more-it could not benothing less-which it could be-than HIMSELF.

1Thou hast given Me.-The Son is from the Father although coeval—if such an expression might be used-in Eternity.

I have given to them.-He gave Himself in the Blessed Eucharist to remain with us for all time and be our strength and support.

May be one.-How the spirit of union is here is well put by S. Augustine: "Propterea quippe, sicut etiam ante nos hoc intellexerunt homines Dei, Dominus noster Jesus Christus corpus et sanguinem suum in eis rebus commendavit, quæ ad unum aliquid rediguntur ex multis. Numque aliud in unum ex multis granis conficitur: aliud in unum ex multis acinis confluit."-Tract 26 in Joan. Lectio vii. pro est Corporis Christi.

Perfect in One.-The perfect oneness of Christians cannot be had without this charity.

Hast loved them.-The condescension of the Trinity in allowing, nay in ordaining-for Our Lord carried out what was ordained—that the Divinity should thus be given us, is a wonder worthy of profound adoration and thanksgiving.

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cognovi, et hi cognoverunt quia have known thee, and these tu me misisti. have known that thou hast sent me.

26. "Et notum feci eis nomen tuum, et notum faciam: ut dilectio quâ dilexisti me in ipsis sit, et ego in ipsis."

26. And I have made known thy name to them, and 'will make it known; that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.

The end of the prayer is now, and it is indeed a crown.

The whole aim and object of His coming and performing so many great works in the world was, that men by seeing them, might believe and thereby become worthy of union with Him here, and of the eternal vision of Him hereafter.

The seeing of God is happiness and there is no happiness outside of it. The loss of God is misery; and no misery, physical or moral, is comparable to the loss of God.

Our Divine Lord has tried to imbue the minds of His disciples with these great truths. They were imbued, and preached them, and died in defence of the truth of what they taught.

There is then a centre to which all things converge. That centre is the Deity. From His power we first went forth. His grace shows us His presence here, and the fruit of this vision and our correspondence is to be with Him for ever.

1May be with Me.—All His longings and wishes for the welfare of His followers will be satiated when the glory of Heaven is manifested to their eyes.

My glory. This, according to an interpretation, is His Divinity. That is the great thing which Philip and others wished to see but could

not.

Before the foundation.-This is thought by some to refer to the idea of creation. Better let it mean from eternity.

4Just. There are questions raised about this epithet as about the other of Holy. We consider them simply as prayerful aspirations like pious, clement, good, sweet, and the like. It is not easy to found some dogmatic basis on adjectives uttered in prayer, nor is it just.

I have known Thee.-Is there not a touch of S. John here again? The world knew Him not.

*Thou hast sent Me.-This much was now settled in the small collection of articles of belief which they possessed.

"Will make it known.-There is a time coming when the knowledge of God will be more widely spread.

8I in them. He wants to be in them but through the love of the Eternal Father.

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