THAT THEY MAY BE ONE AS WE ARE ONE

THURSDAY, SEVENTH WEEK OF EASTERTIDE

Reflection from Friar Nicholas Okeke, OP

Acts 22:30,23:6-11; Ps 16:1-2,7-11; Jn 17:20-26

Theme: Holy Spirit our Unity and Communion

The portion of the priestly prayer of our Lord Jesus Christ given in the gospel stressed the unity among the disciples. Our Lord strongly desired and prayed for the unity of Christians. What he desired and asked from the heavenly Father is a union similar to what exists between him and the Father. This kind of union is possible only through love; hence, he asked the Father for the same love in each Christian as exists between the Father and himself. “Father, may they all be one. Father, may they be one in us, as you are in me and I am in you, so that the world may believe it was you who sent me.” For the type of unity Jesus prayed for to exist in us, we need to be in Jesus Christ just as the Son is in the Father. The realisation of this unity depends on the two parties and not just on one. In the case of the Father and the Son, it is natural and from all eternity. But it is not easily realisable when human persons are involved. Though the Father heard the prayer of Jesus Christ and poured out the Holy Spirit on the disciples, each disciple still needed to respond to the love of God the Spirit pours into his heart by his presence and act through that love every time. It takes a lot of grace to relocate the centre of our conscious intentionality from the carnal to the spiritual part of the mind. 

The Father still answers the prayer of the Son, for he sends the Holy Spirit, the love between the Father and the Son, to dwell in each of us who believe in Jesus Christ whom the Father sent. The shortfall to the actualisation of Son’s desire comes from our part. The decision to love and live in the love of Jesus belongs to each of us. The Spirit would inspire and nudge us always to faith, hope, and love. As in the case of Jesus Christ, who remained in his Father’s love by obeying his word, we have to believe and enter into the love of Jesus Christ; we have to remain steadfast in that love by recommitment to his word and his presence every day. This is necessary because of the nature of our human existence and activities; more of our conscious contents come from without than from within. Hence, we must make an extra and continuous effort to draw more conscious content from within than from without. This is the only way we can remain in Jesus Christ as he remained in his Father. To draw wholesome contents or truth from within, we must work with the indwelling Holy Spirit to fill our mind with whatever is true, healthy, heavenly, trustworthy, with the word of God. 

The prayer of our Lord revealed that the efficacy of our witnessing as Christians depends on our union with Jesus Christ and each other. Because of the importance of the Gospel message preached better through love and communion among believers, the Lord gave his glory to his disciples. “I have given them the glory you gave to me, that they may be one as we are one. With me in them and you in me, may they be so completely one that the world will realise that it was you who sent me and that I have loved them as much as you loved me.” It is through the indwelling Holy Spirit we can dwell in the presence of Jesus Christ every moment in mystery. The Father has granted everything required for the exalted and heavenly communion our Lord prayed for with the coming of the Holy Spirit. The hindrance to unity and communion of believers remains on the human side. We still love and desire ourselves instead of Jesus Christ the Lord. The more self-love remains in us, the less the activity of the Holy Spirit in us. Just as St. Paul was able to strike a note of discord among his persecutors due to the disparity in their belief, the evil one sows discord among Christians by the spread of false gospels. Each group decides what to believe and what not to believe without looking to the hierarchical structure the Lord established for unity through the Holy Spirit.

Let us pray: Grant us, Lord, the grace to continually die to self and live spiritually in you and through the Holy Spirit, so that the unity which your Son Jesus Christ prayed for may be realised in us for the salvation of many souls. 

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