John 17: 20-26
Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying:
“I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
“Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
United By Divine Love
Jesus’ prayer for unity is for both the disciples and also for all future believers, including us. But what does it mean to “all be one” in reality, especially while we live in a time where we are so easily divided by political messaging and social media algorithms?
We know the individuals within our own families – however small – are not a monolith. We don’t get along perfectly or like all the same food or even organize priorities in the exact same way. And sometimes it is the repair that comes after a disagreement that can strengthen a relationship.
So Jesus’ prayer for unity is asking us to choose love for one another, even when that’s a sincerely difficult choice to make. It is asking us to be connected to the generous love that let God send us his only son and the radical love that Christ expressed for others, especially the marginalized, in his everyday life. We are each created in this image and are called to recognize the divinity within others, even our enemies.
How will we continue to restore each other to the divine love that unites us and overcomes fear and division?
—Kristy C. Parrish works at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and is the former principal of Immaculate Conception School in Fairbanks, Alaska.
Prayer
We are one in the spirit; we are one in the Lord
We are one in the spirit; we are one in the Lord
And we pray that all unity will one day be restored
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love,
Yes they’ll know we are Christians by our love.
— “They’ll Know We Are Christians by Our Love” by Peter Scholtes