In all the times I’ve read this Priestly Prayer of Jesus from our gospel today, I never picked up that Jesus was giving us all a definition of ‘eternal life’. He said in this prayer to his Father:
“And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”
This quote about eternal life brought me back to when we were kids and my father used an analogy to explain to us how long eternity was. He told us to imagine a globe as big as the world that was made of steel. Then we had to imagine a tiny bird who would fly around that globe and when it got to a certain spot, its tail would gently brush that spot. By the time that spot was deep from just being brushed by that bird’s tail, eternity would have just begun. I never forgot that image as a child!
Yes, eternity is a long time in our thinking, but Jesus is telling us here that eternal life not just for the future. He’s redefining ‘eternal life’ as entering into an intimate, loving relationship with God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit now. Eternal life is relational, and our life with God begins here and now. Then we become witnesses of knowing, loving, and serving God so we can help others to do likewise.
Jesus tells us eternal life is getting to know God and Jesus himself. How do we do this? This special relationship is a gift that we can enter into now through prayer and the Sacraments, serving others, and being aware of inspirations and revelations that touch our hearts. Eternal life, then, becomes a daily communion of loving and trusting God that will last forever.
May we always strive, with God’s grace, to know not just concepts and facts about God, as important as these are, but really just know God and God’s precious love and mercy for us now each day, and then, for all eternity.
