15. When therefore they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter: Simon, son of John, lovest thou me more than these? He saith to him: Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He saith to him: Feed my lambs.

16. He saith to him again: Simon, son of John, lovest thou me? He saith to him: yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He saith to him: Feed my lambs.

17. He said to him the third time: Simon, son of John, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he had said to him the third time: Lovest thou me? And he said to him: Lord, thou knowest all things: thou knowest that I love thee. He said to him: Feed my sheep.*

18. Amen, amen, I say to thee, When thou wast younger, thou didst gird thyself and didst walk where thou wouldst. But when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee and lead thee whither thou wouldst not.

19. And this he said, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had said this, he saith to him: Follow me.

*Feed my sheep... Our Lord had promised the spiritual supremacy to St. Peter; St. Matt. 16. 19; and here he fulfils that promise, by charging him with the superintendency of all his sheep, without exception; and consequently of his whole flock, that is, of his own church.

Tractate CXXIII.

Chapter XXI. 12-19.

1. With this third manifestation of Himself by the Lord to His disciples after His resurrection, the Gospel of the blessed Apostle John is brought to a close, of which we have already lectured through the earlier part as we were able, on to the place where it is related that an hundred and fifty-three fishes were taken by the disciples to whom He showed Himself, and for all they were so large, yet were not the nets broken. What follows we have now to take into consideration, and to discuss as the Lord enables us, and as the various points may appear to demand. When the fishing was over, "Jesus saith unto them, Come [and] dine. And none of those who sat down dared to ask Him, Who art Thou? knowing that it was the Lord." If, then, they knew, what need was there to ask? and if there was no need, wherefore is it said, "they dared not," as if there were need, but, from some fear or other, they dared not? The meaning here, therefore, is: so great was the evidence of the truth that Jesus Himself had appeared to these disciples, that not one of them dared not merely to deny, but even to doubt it; for had any of them doubted it, he ought certainly to have asked. In this sense, therefore, it was said, "No one dared to ask Him, Who art Thou?" as if it were, No one dared to doubt that it was He Himself.

1. These things Jesus spoke: and lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said:
...

20. And not for them only do I pray, but for them also who through their word shall believe in me.

21. That they all may be one, as thou, Father, in me, and I in thee; that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

22. And the glory which thou 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 the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them, as thou hast also loved me.

24. Father, I will that where I am, they also whom thou hast given me may be with me: that they may see my glory which thou hast given me, because thou hast loved me before the creation of the world.

25. Just Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee. And these have known that thou hast sent me.

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.

Tractate CX.

Chapter XVII. 21-23.

1. After the Lord Jesus had prayed for His disciples whom He had with Him at the time, and had conjoined with them others who were also His own, by saying, "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also who shall believe on me through their word," as if we were inquiring what or wherefore He prayed for them, He straightway subjoined, "That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, [art] in me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us." And a little above, while still praying for the disciples alone who were then with Him, He said, "Holy Father, keep in Thine own name those whom Thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are" (ver. 11). It is the same thing, therefore, that He now also prayed for in our behalf, as He did at that time in theirs, namely, that all--to wit, both we and they--may be one. And here we must take particular notice that the Lord did not say that we all may be one, but, "that they all may be one; as Thou Father, in me, and I in Thee" (where is to be understood are one, as is more clearly expressed afterwards); because He had also said before of the disciples who were with Him, "That they may be one, as we are." The Father, therefore, is in the Son, and the Son in the Father, in such a way as to be one, because they are of one substance; but while we may indeed be in them, we cannot be one with them; for they and we are not of one substance, in as far as the Son is God along with the Father. But in as far as He is man, He is of the same substance as we are. But at present He wished rather to call attention to that other statement which He made use of in another place, "I and the Father are one," [1761] where He intimated that His own nature was the same with that of the Father. And accordingly, though the Father and Son, or even the Holy Spirit, are in us, we must not suppose that they are of one nature with ourselves. And hence they are in us, or we are in them, in this sense, that they are one in their own nature, and we are one in ours. For they are in us, as God in His temple; but we are in them, as the creature in its Creator.

1. These things Jesus spoke: and lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said:

....

11b. Holy Father, keep them in thy name whom thou hast given me: that they may be one, as we also are.

12. While I was with them, I kept them in thy name. Those whom thou gavest me have I kept: and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition: that the scripture may be fulfilled.

13. And now I come to thee: and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy filled in themselves.

14. I have given them thy word, and the world hath hated them: because they are not of the world, as I also am not of the world.

15. I pray not that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou shouldst keep them from evil.

16. They are not of the world, as I also am not of the world.

17. Sanctify them in truth. Thy word is truth.

18. As thou hast sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.

19. And for them do I sanctify myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.

Homily LXXXII.

John xvii. 14 .

"I have given them Thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world."

[1.] When having become virtuous we are persecuted by the wicked, or when being desirous of virtue we are mocked at by them, let us not be distracted or angry. For this is the natural course of things, and everywhere virtue is wont to engender hatred from wicked men. For envying those who desire to live properly, and thinking to prepare an excuse for themselves if they can overthrow the credit of others, they hate them as having pursuits opposite to their own, and use every means to shame their way of life. But let not us grieve, for this is a mark of virtue. Wherefore Christ also saith, "If ye were of the world, the world would love its own." ( c. xv. 19 .) And in another place again, "Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you." ( Luke vi. 26 .) Wherefore also He saith here, "I have given them Thy word, and the world hath hated them." Again He telleth the reason for which they were worthy to obtain much care from the Father; "For Thy sake," He saith, "they have been hated, and for Thy word's sake"; so that they would be entitled to all providential care.

1. These things Jesus spoke: and lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said: the hour is come. Glorify thy Son, that thy Son may glorify thee.

2. As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he may give eternal life to all whom thou hast given him.

3. Now this is eternal life: That they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

4. I have glorified thee on the earth; I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.

5. And now glorify thou me, O Father, with thyself, with the glory which I had, before the world was, with thee.

6. I have manifested thy name to the men whom thou hast given me out of the world. Thine they were: and to me thou gavest them. And they have kept thy word.

7. Now they have known that all things which thou hast given me are from thee:

8. Because the words which thou gavest me, I have given to them. And they have received them and have known in very deed that I came out from thee: and they have believed that thou didst send me.

9. I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but for them whom thou hast given me: because they are thine.

10. And all my things are thine, and thine are mine: and I am glorified in them.

11a. And now I am not in the world, and these are in the world, and I come to thee.

Homily LXXX.

John xvii. 1 .

"These words spake Jesus, and lifted up His eyes to heaven, and saith, Father, the hour is come; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee."

[1.] " He that hath done and taught," [1] it saith, "the same shall be called great in the Kingdom of heaven." And with much reason; for to show true wisdom in words, is easy, but the proof which is by works is the part of some noble and great one. Wherefore also Christ, speaking of the endurance of evil, putteth Himself forth, bidding us take example from Him. On this account too, after this admonition, He betaketh Himself to prayer, teaching us in our temptations to leave all things, and flee to God. For because He had said, "In the world ye shall have tribulation," and had shaken their souls, by the prayer He raiseth them again. As yet they gave heed unto Him as to a man; and for their sake He acteth thus, just as He did in the case of Lazarus, and there telleth the reason; "Because of the people that stand by I said it, that they might believe that Thou hast sent Me." ( c. xi. 42 ) "Yea," saith some one, "this took place with good cause in the case of the Jews; but wherefore in that of the disciples?" With good cause in the case of the disciples also. For they who, after all that had been said and done, said, "Now we know that Thou knowest" ( c. xvi. 30), most of all needed to be established. Besides, the Evangelist doth not even call the action prayer; but what saith he? "He lifted up His eyes to heaven," and saith rather that it was a discoursing with the Father. And if elsewhere he speaks of prayer, and at one time shows Him kneeling on His knees, at another lifting His eyes to heaven, be not thou troubled; for by these means we are taught the earnestness which should be in our petitions, that standing we should look up, not with the eyes of the flesh only, but of the mind, and that we should bend our knees, bruising our own hearts. For Christ came not merely to manifest Himself, but also about to teach virtue ineffable. But it behooveth the teacher to teach, not by words only, but also by actions. Let us hear then what He saith in this place.

His disciples say to him: Behold, now thou speakest plainly and speakest no proverb. Now we know that thou knowest all things and thou needest not that any man should ask thee. By this we believe that thou camest forth from God. Jesus answered them: Do you now believe? Behold, the hour cometh, and it is now come, that you shall be scattered every man to his own and shall leave me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.
These things I have spoken to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you shall have distress. But have confidence. I have overcome the world.

What a wonderful reading to begin this site and this Blog, with the plain truth that our Saviour spoke to His disciples so that they would have peace in the confidence that He has overcome the world. This is the purpose of St. Wiki -- as St. Paul said in Ephesians 3:4 - 5: [that] you reading, may understand ...the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not known to the sons of men, as it is now revealed...

To this end, St. Wiki intends to place online, and available for free and permanent access to all, the writings of the Church Fathers, the Saints, the Church's great theologians, and our Holy Fathers. In addition, we will add information about the Catholic Faith (several great Catechisms have already been placed online), lives of the Saints, and other information to round out our understanding. This will indeed take time, with progress measured one page at a time. And, most importantly, we will. to the best of our ability, remain true and faithful to the Magisterium.

I invite you to join this journey. Follow us as we progress and give us feedback. For a while, and until the site is more firmly established, only a selected few will be allowed to post to St. Wiki. But we always want to hear from you and we will always have you in mind and in our prayers. Please pray for us too.

May God Bless You.