“I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known” (John 17:26).
In Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus describes a key aspect of his mission: to make known the name of the Father.
Shortly after these words spoken at the Last Supper, he used the Aramaic word for Father, “Abba”, when he was in agony in Gethsemane (Mark 14:36) – an intimate use of his first language. After his Ascension, he continued to make this name known by sending the Holy Spirit who, according to St Paul, enables us to say “Abba”, as he did (Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6).
