“FATHER! MAY THEY BE ONE!”
⏰SEVENTH SUNDAY OF EASTER (C) WORLD COMMUNICATION DAY (29 MAY 2022)
📖1 Acts 7:55-60; Ps 97:1 and 2b, 6 and 7c, 9 (R.v.1a, 9a); Rev 22:12-14, 16-17, 20; Gospel Jn. 17:20-26
🎤”FATHER! MAY THEY BE ONE!”
Christ, through the Church, today reminds us of His will and indeed, his Fathers will for us all, which is that we may all be one. This oneness is exemplified in the bond that holds the Trinity together. Even though they have their separate functions, they are bounded together in love and so St. Augustine calls them the inseparable separate. As Christ came into the world to teach us the way to the Father, we are called to emulate this bond of love that holds them together.
In the Gospel passage of today, Christ drops a parting gift for his followers and that is the prayer to the Father to keep all of us in unity. When he was praying for his immediate disciples, he was equally praying for all of us his-would-be-followers for he says in John 10:16, “I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, and one shepherd.”
As distinct beings, we have many things that separate us owing to the fact that we reason differently but in all these, we are bounded together in love by the blood of the Lamb that was slain. We are divided but at the same time in unity with one another, that is, we are brothers and sisters in Christ.
In this family, Christ is the head and we are the body. All the parts of the body must be in accord with one another or else, the body will be uncomfortable. If the leg decides not to cooperate with the entire body, the hand may not get to the place it will pick up food for the mouth. In the same vain, we need one another to achieve our collective goal which is being in oneness with the Trinity.
In order to be one with one another, we need to do many things which would include having the spirit of forgiveness as Stephen portrayed in the Second Reading of today. He possesses the spirit of forgiveness and so was able to have a vision of the Son of Man who is the epitome of Mercy.
Secondly, this forgiveness would later unite him to Saul (the-would-be-Paul), who approved and was a part of the persecution against him and the early Christians. Like Stephen, we must learn to tolerate and forgive one another because it is only in this way that we can foster a united community that is bounded together in love.
If we are united with one another in love, it is only then that we can have our robes washed clean and stand a chance of gaining the eternal reward that Christ promises in the second reading.
On this day that we celebrate the World Communication Sunday, the Holy Father, Pope Francis challenges us to listen to one another with the ear of the heart. He observed that we have stopped listening and hearing ourselves. Even those who manage to listen, do so in order to respond and not in order to understand. When we begin to listen to understand and accommodate, we will be led to the unity, for which Christ prayed.May we all continue to abide in love and in the end gain the eternal reward, which is to see the Lord face to face and his name be written on our foreheads in that place where there will no more night and no need of light or lamp because the Lord will be shining on our face and then, we may reign for all eternity, (cf. Rev 22:4-5). Amen
Have a beautiful Sunday rich in love and mercy. Peace be with you.
