We often think of "Christian Unity" in collective, communal, and even institutional terms. Could that be part of the reason why we're not ready for the gift that Christ prayed for: "Father, ... that they may be one as we are one ..."?
For what would it profit the church to gain the whole world and forfeit its soul? Or what could it give in exchange for its soul?
And what is the "soul" of the church but the integrity of each of its members?
And what is our integrity but Christ living in us?
Unless I am a person of faith, not in a "lofty idea" or a "timeless truth" or an "iron-clad dogma", but in a person, the living, in-breathing, life-giving person of Christ, then I am worse than nothing. I am a hypocrite, a liar and a fraud.
Christian unity will be ours when we, like Paul of Tarsus, undergo a life-changing encounter with the victim of our hypocrisy, our dogmatism, and our self-deception forgiving us. Yes, that's right! Our forgiving victim: Christ, the Crucified and Risen One.
The week of Prayer for Christian Unity begins on the day the church, East and West, celebrates the feast of the father of Christian monks, Saint Anthony the Great of Egypt; and it culminates on the feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul. In other words, it begins in prayer — because that's the heart of a monk's life — and culminates in conversion — because that's what all genuine prayer prepares us to undergo.
Unless we — each of us personally, and all of us communally — are in an intimate, open-minded and wholehearted relationship with God in Christ through prayer; unless we pray as Christ prayed; unless the Holy Spirit prays within us, since we really do not know how to pray ... then we simply will not be able to receive the gift for which Christ prays, and which the Holy Spirit is: the unity of the Father and the Son.
... that they may all be one as we are 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 sent Me. (cf. John 17:20-22)
If we want Christian unity as much Jesus wants it, we have to pray for it just as Jesus prays for it. And if we do, we will be ready to receive it as the gift that it is.
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