The Perspective of Justice

Unity

  “That they may be one, as we are one—I living in them, you living in me—that their unity may be complete.” The goal of the entire paschal mystery, and Jesus’ wish for all of us, is unity: that we may be one as Jesus and his Father are one.

Today’s world is more characterized by division than by unity. We face off against each other as rich and poor. North and South, white and black, African and Asain, Jew and Arab, Christian and Jew, Catholic and Protestant, male and female, young and old, suburban and inner city, conservative and liberal.

Every once in a while, a Stephen comes along, someone so dedicated to the principles which can bring us together that he is willing to surrender his life for the cause. And of course, we gladly take it. Better to sacrifice a Martin Luther King or an Oscar Romero than to lose our favored position in society!

Come, Lord Jesus! Come with the life-giving water that will wash away our divisions and make our unity complete.

The Catholic Church considers it her duty to work actively so that there may be fulfilled the great mystery of that unity which Jesus Christ invoked with fervent prayer from His Heavenly Father on the eve of His sacrifice. She rejoices in peace, knowing well that she is intimately associated with that prayer, and then exults greatly at seeing that invocation extend its efficacy with salutary fruit even among those who are outside her fold.

Pope John XXIII, Address at the Opening
of the Second Vatican Council, 1962

Gerald Darring

**From Saint Louis University