I received my formation to the priesthood in the Redemptoris Mater Seminary of Newark, in New Jersey, in the United States. One of the characteristics of this Seminary was its internationality. Men from all over the world, with different cultures and backgrounds, different ages, and educational levels, with different family histories and social status, all came to this house of formation, to prepare for the priesthood.
Another important characteristic was that we all came from living our faith in the context of small Christian communities in our countries of origin. We had all experienced the transforming power of the Spirit of Christ risen, offered to us through the announcement of the Good News. Something that impressed me, from the moment I arrived in the Seminary, was to see how all the barriers that could have separated us were broken in our common life, and we were all one!
I remember, for instance, sharing meals with men who were years older than me, who had high academic achievements or who had had very accomplished jobs, and we all had something in common to talk about. I also remember working in the Garden with a chemical engineer, washing dishes with a brother who was from the other side of the world, or going on vacation with a brother who did not speak my language, and feeling in total communion with them. This unity that we experienced was not the result of human efforts. It really came from our common experience of the love and the action of God in our lives.
To be sure, we had our differences and our disagreements, and at times we would even have heated arguments. However, our experience of the Lord and the awareness of sharing in a common goal, which was to respond to God’s call, always helped us to reconcile and to recover the sense of unity that made our house a very special place to live in. We were, in fact, experiencing the fruit of the prayer that Jesus Christ raised to His Father, and which is presented to us in today’s readings.
Unity
In today’s Gospel, the Lord speaks about one of the signs that will show the world that He is the sent one by God: Unity! Praying to the Father for those who have believed in His word and for those who through their witness will also come to believe in Him, He says: “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 the world may believe that you sent me.”
Christ raises this prayer to the Father shortly before entering his hour, the hour in which He was going to reveal to the world the immense love of God, by giving His life for us. Thus, the unity that Jesus asks for His disciples is the unity that He experiences with the Father and with the Holy Spirit, which is a unity of love. That is why, at the end of the passage, Jesus says: “I made known to them your name and I will make it known, that the love with which you love me may be in them and I in them.” This is Jesus’s ultimate gift for us, the gift of His love, which makes it possible that we may experience communion and peace with the others.
Rediscover Our Relationships
We live in a world that is divided and where there is no unity. There are many barriers that tend to separate us from one another. These include race, religion, political ideas, ideologies, gender, educational level, and others. The different views that men have on these different areas of our lives constantly provoke the idea that we may live in a polarized and divided world. For this reason, the prayer of Jesus is a call for all of us, Christians, to rediscover that our relationship with the other cannot be based on the standards and categories of this world. Instead, Christ’s plea to the Father constitutes an invitation to base our relationships with others on Christ and on the love He offers. Only in Christ can there be real unity. Let us make ours His prayer. Let us ask Him to help us show the signs of love and unity that will convince the world of His presence among us.
