The prayer of Jesus after the last supper was that His followers be one, so that the world would know that His Father sent Him (John 17 : 20 – 21). How manifest is that message of unity among Christians in the world of today? What do we see? A church united or a church divided? One thing is sure: the Lord wants us to be one, just as He and the Father are one. The question is: How do we achieve this unity when there is so much division and animosity among Christians themselves and among Christian denominations? Can it be done? The answer, I believe, is yes.

It can be done if we follow the example of Christ to love one another as he has loved us.. We can be united in the teaching of the gospel, and we can be united in our common cause of following the example of Christ who is the way, the truth, and the life.

Christian unity must be a top priority for every individual Christian. That is why St Paul urges the Christians of his day to “make every effort” to maintain “the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3). When St. Paul was writing, the church was still one and undivided. Yet he admonished the Christians back then to do all in their power to work for unity in the body in Christ.

The situation today is far from the unity of the early Christians. The church of Christ has suffered schisms upon schisms, divisions upon divisions, factions upon factions, with the result that anyone espousing “one flock, one shepherd” would appear to be dreaming an impossible dream. Still, that is what the Lord prayed for, and that is what we are commanded to strive for so that all “will become one flock under one shepherd” (John 10:16).

We must all work together for Christian unity because we share so much in common. We should not be defined by our differences, but by what we have in common. Still, many Christians focus on their differences rather than on what they possess in common as followers of Christ. This can lead to division rather than unity.

In the Catholic Church today, for example, two different and opposing factions are evident.

One faction may be described as ideologues; that is, those who espouse doctrinal fundamentalism or clarity of doctrine. There’s nothing wrong with this, in itself, but there’s more to the gospel than insisting on clarity of doctrine. Jesus insists that the person who will enter his kingdom is the one “who hears my word and puts it into practice.”

The other faction stresses the pastoral; namely, it puts the emphasis on following the example of Christ who reached out with love and compassion to draw all people to himself.

There is no good reason why these two factions should be in conflict with one another when they have so much in common. We all share in one baptism, we profess the same gospel, we are powered by the same Holy Spirit, we are all children of the same God, and we are all called to follow the example of Jesus who is the fulfillment of God’s will for us on earth. What we have in common is much greater than what divides us. With this in mind, we need to come together as Christians, not just Catholics, to share the love of Christ, and to spread this good news in a world waiting to be healed.

This is a very challenging task. The challenge facing every Christian today in regard to Christian unity is: do you have the will? Do you believe it is possible? If you take Jesus’ prayer for unity seriously in the gospel of John, the answer is quite simply: yes.

—Fr. Hugh Duffy