May 21, 2026
Thursday of the Seventh Week of Easter / St. Theodore of Magellan and Companions, Martyrs
Gospel: John 17:20-26

Today is Thursday of the Seventh Week of Easter. The Church celebrates a Memorial of St. Theodore of Magellan and his Companion Martyrs. The passage from the Gospel of John continues Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer offered to the Father before His Passion.

In this Gospel passage, John provides us with a most essential truth: Jesus is in the Father, and the Father is in Jesus (cf. Jn 17:20-21). To understand the relationship between Jesus and the Father, we must turn to Genesis. At the very beginning of creation, it is written: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters. And God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day” (cf. Gen 1:1-5). Thus, the Word proceeding from the mouth of God is the Logos, through whom the world was created. St. John tells us at the outset of his Gospel: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made” (cf. Jn 1:1-3).

Another point of note is that Jesus mentions “glory” once more (cf. Jn 17:22-23). This “glory” is not merely a verb but refers to the Holy Spirit. We know that the Holy Spirit is the Life of God. As written at the beginning of John’s Gospel: “In him was life, and the life was the light of men” (cf. Jn 1:4). By giving them “glory,” Jesus bestows upon them the very Life of God. He gives His flesh as food and His blood as drink—and according to Jewish custom, blood and flesh signify a person’s life.

Today, each of us has the opportunity to receive the Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ through the Eucharist. In the Sacred Liturgy, enlightened by the Holy Spirit and listening to the Word of God, if we keep His commandments, we are those whom the Father has given to Jesus. If we follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit and live according to His will, we are united to Christ. The Word of the Lord, rich in mercy, will never leave us “orphans” (cf. Jn 14:18). He remains ever at our side, ready to grant us strength whenever we are in need, helping us through every crisis of life.

May your Spirit, O Lord, we pray,
imbue us powerfully with spiritual gifts,
that he may give us a mind pleasing to you
and graciously conform us to your will.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever

©Totus Tuus 2026
Cum Approbatione Ecclesiastica