Gospel of John, chapter 17:21

Before Jesus left this world, He prayed that His followers be united so that their unity would draw others to Him.

One of the great tragedies in the Christian churches is disunity. Disunity is a scandal, a sign to outsiders that all is not well among the Churches. How can Christians claim to be followers of Christ if they are opposed to one another?

When Pope John XXIII announced the Second Vatican Council in 1960, he called for an all out effort on the part of the Catholic Church to restore Christian unity. Vatican Council II has become known as the “Ecumenical Council,” the express purpose of which is to bring about unity among all believers. This is an enormous undertaking and we must not lose heart in striving for unity among all people in spite of our differences. In this blog, I will focus on achieving unity among Christian denominations.

Unity cannot be achieved without effort. We must be prepared to take steps to reach out to people of other denominations who are separated from us. We must be prepared to acknowledge what we have in common-the same scriptures; a common baptism; and the all-encompassing love of Christ. Our world has enough problems of its own without adding to them by our failure to work together as Christians to bring Christ to a broken world.

Every year at Sacred Heart, we host a gathering of about twenty different churches and denominations in order to bring Christ to inmates at the maximum security prison in Okeechobee. There is only one goal: lead the inmates to Christ without getting bogged down by denominational differences. The results are extraordinary. Prisoners who return to society after this experience show little or no recidivism; while the denominational leaders of churches re-discover their unity as followers of Christ.

Events of this kind promote unity among believers. They may not resolve differences in doctrine; but they promote better understanding; build up trust and respect; encourage co-operation; and demonstrate our common unity in Christ.

It is by doing things of this kind that we promote God’s kingdom in our midst; that we usher in the fulfillment of the prayer of Christ- “that they be one.” (Jn. 17:21)

May all Christians strive to grow in the unity and love of Christ.

Fr. Hugh Duffy

* * * Do not miss tomorrow’s blog on Love by Fr. Mike Cassel * * *