Mass for the feast of St. Justin, presided over by Father Joachim Negel, Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Theology at the University of Fribourg and resident of the student residence.

THERE ARE A FEW PASSAGES FROM FATHER JOACHIM’S HOMILY

Dear brothers and sisters,
There are texts in the Gospel where you don’t know where to begin; you can’t find a beginning or an end, because they are eternal variations on the same theme. The little passage from Jesus’ priestly prayer that we’ve just heard is just such a gospel: a never-ending prayer about us and our lives. The way we look at this text is like the way we use a kaleidoscope, which needs to be shaken over and over again so that the light can refract in an ever-new way and reveal a different image. In other words, to enter into the movement of thought of Jesus that is expressed here, all of us who are here should get together, and each and every one of us should start talking about the friendships from which he or she draws strength. The sum of these testimonies would give us an idea of what we’re talking about here. For with this little passage from Jesus’ priestly prayer (which concludes the farewell speeches in John’s Gospel), we enter directly into the heart of the Christian faith…

…Now, here’s what Jesus says here: “As you, dear Father, are in me and I in you, as we are one, may they all be one, so that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and I in them.” Have you ever said goodbye to a loved one in this way? “As I want to be in you, be in me, and may the love that unites us go beyond our relationship so that others may share in it”?

Maybe not, because to be able to talk like this requires a degree of intimacy rarely achieved between human beings. Most of the time, we remain on the surface and content ourselves with good wishes. We rarely go any further…

….I truly believe that when we share our experiences with one another, we can discover much about the reality of God. Perhaps there are some among us who know each other so deeply that they can say of each other, “As you are in me and I am in you, so our love spreads to those with whom we live.” It’s true that we live off each other; the atmosphere that surrounds the friendships in which we live also enables others to live. “Atmosphere” is a wonderful word. There are atmospheres that shelter us, in which we can find space and air to breathe. When we read and pray the Pentecost texts these days you can almost physically feel the breath that resonates in these songs (I’m thinking in particular of a musical setting as sung at Taizé). A pleasant, invigorating spirit, holy because it heals, that’s the atmosphere of the welcome….