The prayer for Unity

Today's Gospel Reading
Jn 17:20-26

Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying:
"I pray not only for these,
but also for those who will believe in me through their word,
so that they may all be one,
as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
that they also may be in us,
that the world may believe that you sent me.
And I have given them the glory you gave me,
so that they may be one, as we are one,
I in them and you in me,
that they may be brought to perfection as one,
that the world may know that you sent me,
and that you loved them even as you loved me.
Father, they are your gift to me.
I wish that where I am they also may be with me,
that they may see my glory that you gave me,
because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
Righteous Father, the world also does not know you,
but I know you, and they know that you sent me.
I made known to them your name and I will make it known,
that the love with which you loved me
may be in them and I in them."

We heard a great homily at daily Mass this morning from Fr Mike. He pointed out that the biggest threat to Catholicism and the unity of the faith is individualism. It began with Adam and Eve. They wanted what they wanted despite what God said. They wanted that fruit, even though they knew the consequences. Today, people want what they want when they want it. Instead of considering the common good, being part of the Body, worshiping God in the unity of the faith, most people want to individualize. "I won't participate, I don't feel like singing or praying or kneeling.... I don't feel like going to Church today..."

We live in the "Me" generation. Everything is directed toward the self. The Gospel reading for today reflects the heart of the Lord, praying for his disciples to be one. We are the body of Christ. Romans 12:5 "So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another." Our fleshly bodies have one focus. All our parts are in concert with one another. It is a marvelous system of checks and balances. Forces are marshalled for the common good. One part of the body doesn't have a different general purpose than another. They may have different functions but the purpose is the same. Survival. Health. Well being. All the parts move in the same direction, with the same purpose. Acting as one.
The body of Christ should be no different. When we gather around the table of the Lord, we come with one purpose, to hear the Word, to worship, to offer thanks, to receive our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. Jesus prayed "so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one," ... Jesus prayed that Christians today be one, as He and the Father were one. Jesus said over and over that He came to do the will of His Father. Not His own Will. "Lo, in the volume of the book it is said of me 'I come to do your will, O God'
Jesus said that we would be brought to perfection as one". We will not get there looking after "number one", but we will get there by being at one with one another. Praying together, eating together, fasting together, worshipping together. In Holy Communion together. That is why we do not offer communion to Christians outside the Church. Because, though they have the same Lord, they are not one with us, they do not have the common faith. For 2000 years, the Catholic Church has had One Faith, One Lord, One Baptism. 1 Corinthians 10:17 "For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread"

So when we come together at Mass, let not one of us try to stand out among the crowd. But let us all be one, praying, singing, kneeling in worship. So that, as Jesus promises, that we will be brought to perfection as one.
And let us pray that the Holy Spirit's call for unity this Penetecost be spread over all Christendom. That we be joined in unity one day with our separated brethren. Psalm 133 tells us "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!" Lord let us be One!!!
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