Life in the Holy Spirit An Empowerment Bible Study using the readings from Catholic Daily Mass for the Season of Easter (any year) © 2003 by Terry A. Modica

Thursday of the Seventh Week of Easter
What is required to answer the prayer of Jesus?

When I converted from Protestantism to Catholicism in 1977, I read John 17:20-26 and said, "Wow Jesus, your own prayers sometimes take a long time to get answered! All these break-off denominations just keep multiplying." And seeing divisions and differences within the Catholic Church has made me say, "Wow Jesus, your prayer isn't even being answered here!"

Or maybe I was just looking for the answer in the wrong places.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that "Christ bestowed unity on His Church from the beginning" and that unity "subsists in the Catholic Church as something she can never lose" (see para. 820). It's a gift. It's not something we make happen -- it's already ours. "But the Church must always pray and work to maintain, reinforce, and perfect the unity that Christ wills for her."

The unity we have in the Catholic Church comes from accepting that Christ our leader works through the pope and bishops in the form of the Church Magisterium. If we choose to remain in unity with Christ this way, He protects us from false teachings and worldly compromises.

When it comes to dogmas and moral laws, we divide ourselves from Christ if we disregard or misuse Church teachings based on our personal interpretations of them. Rejecting any of them means we don't understand their value (the most commonly misunderstood teaching is the one about not using artificial birth control). But through the Magisterium, Christ has made clear the reasons and the scriptural basis for each law and doctrine.

What about the differences between denominations and within the way Catholicism is practiced? Can Christ's prayer be answered even while we are divided from one another? Yes! Unity does not necessarily mean "agreement." We don't have think alike to be unified. We are already one! His prayer is answered in the way we LOVE one another.

As it says in the Catechism, para. 815, the bond of unity is the love that "binds everything together in perfect harmony (Col. 3:14)". Anything we do that is unloving breaks us away from God -- we are no longer living in harmony with Him. This is why going to the Sacrament of Reconciliation is so essential. It not only reunites us with God but also with the entire community, because the priest stands in for the whole Body of Christ.

All of the sacraments are provided as the answer to Christ's prayer. How well are you using the gift of Reconciliation, your Baptism and Confirmation, Eucharist, Marriage or Holy Orders, or the Anointing when you're sick, to build the bonds of unity?

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See also Holy Living: A Bible Study covering the Sermon on the Mount.