NOTES for Jn 17:20-26

In today’s reading Jesus prays to the Father for His Church. And the main thing for which He asks is unity. Today, two thousand years later, we see that those who believed through the apostles’ word, those who believe in Christ, are not united. How many barriers and partitions stand between us! It is no accident that Jesus says, “That they all may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.” For many unbelievers, the division of Christians is further evidence against the Church. Indeed, how is one to determine who is right and who is wrong? It is easier to say that if Christians themselves cannot resolve their disputes and reach a common understanding, then perhaps what unites them is not so important after all...

But we know that it is the Lord Himself who unites us. What can each of us do for the unity of the Church? Nothing—and very much. For unity begins today, right now: when we recognize one another as brothers and sisters, when we pray together, when we work together for God... when we seek what unites us rather than what divides us.