May they be One

Reflection on John 17:20-26

There is this story about how Jesus once went to a football match with a friend. The match was between the Catholic Bombers and the Protestant Rockets. The Catholic Bombers were the first to score a goal. Jesus cheered heartily. Then in the second half, the Protestant Rockets equalised. Jesus again cheered heartily. The friend was confused. He asked Jesus which side he was on. Jesus answered, "None. I am just enjoying the game."

The moral of this story is that the disunity among Christians is not willed by Jesus. That is clear from today's Gospel passage. Jesus wanted unity for his followers so much that he even prayed for it. He prayed that they might be one as he and the Father are one, "may they be so completely one, so that the world will realise that it was you who sent me and that I have loved them as much as you loved me."

The disunity among Christians has been a veritable scandal. That is what the Second Vatican Council called it. It has been a stumbling block (that is the meaning of the world "scandal") in the way of proclamation of the Good News. That proclamation would have fared a lot better if Christians did not speak in so many discordant voices.

Thanks be to God, Christian leaders around the world have decided to do something to bring an end to the divisions among Christians. They started doing something around 1948. It is called "Ecumenism" or the "Ecumenical Movement". "Ecumenism" is the name given to all efforts that are aimed at progressively narrowing the divisions among Christians until we become one again, in accordance with the wish and prayer of Jesus for his followers.

Years ago, there was a Consistory -that is a meeting of all the Cardinals with the Pope in the Vatican. Top of the agenda was Ecumenism and how to move it forward. In Nigeria, Catholic Bishops are reaching out to Protestant denominations individually or collectively, within the framework of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).

The actions of our leaders challenge all Christians to reach out to one another across denominational divides. It is true that we cannot yet do everything in common. We must not do everything in common yet since there are still divisions among us, and those divisions are real and serious. We cannot, for instance, share the Eucharist yet with our Protestant brethren because it does not mean exactly the same thing to all of us.

But there are still a lot of things that we have in common and a lot of things that we can do in common. We can pray together for various religious and civic intentions, including that of Christian reunion. We can give joint Christian witness on issues of social justice and human development. We can collaborate in areas like education and health care delivery, among others. We can certainly show a great deal more love, understanding and respect for one another than we have done in former times.

Whatever we do along these lines will contribute in no small measure towards fulfilling our Lord's wish and prayer, that we may be one, as he and the Father are one.