When John the evangelist wrote his Gospel, the Church was already
divided into factions and different groups. Today, John presents
Christ’s moving prayer for unity.
Was there ever unity in the world? Too many forces pull apart families,
communities, religions and nations. Such divisions are always
destructive. The worst is when this division occurs because of
different beliefs in God. No wonder the climax of Jesus’ prayer is his
urgent plea for unity among his disciples and among future Christians.
For he sees in disunity one of the greatest temptations and one of the
greatest victories of the evil one.
What is the root of disunity? Usually, it is pride, selfishness,
stubbornness, the refusal to compromise or to sit down together and
dialogue. The prayer of Jesus makes us aware of how dear the issue of
unity is to his heart. The last popes took up this issue and worked
hard to bring the different Christian groups together, especially Pope
John Paul II, who went out of his way like no other Church leader
before him to reach out to other Christian Churches and non-Christian
religions. We have seen him embracing Patriarchs of the Orthodox
Churches.
It would be good to ask ourselves today: How do I contribute to unity
in my own surroundings, my family, my community, my parish? May we
continue to do in our own little way, in our own limited environment
what Pope John Paul II did on a large scale. May the Spirit of unity
encourage us and give us the strength to be instruments of unity
wherever we are and in this way contribute our share in bringing to
fulfillment Christ’s greatest desire: that all may be one.