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Manila Bulletin devider Opinion devider That they may be one

That they may be one

Published Jun 4, 2025 12:05 am  |  Updated Jun 3, 2025 05:09 pm
REFLECTIONS TODAY
What could Jesus’ prayer for his disciples — “that they may be one” (v 11) — mean in its specific context? Did it mean the group was divided or not in unity with one another? Were the realliances among them? Were there “rebels” or “troublemakers” among them?
Any of these possibilities could have been true with Jesus’ disciples. After all, it is part of the human condition to be divided at times; we cannot be expected to think the same way at all times. Indeed, unity is an elusive ideal for every community.
And the bigger the community, the more challenging it is to achieve this ideal. Jesus is perhaps imagining that once he is gone, the disciples would also be going their own ways. And so, he prays that they remain united, in the same way that he and the Father are united—in being, in words, in action. One of the greatest gifts of human groups like the family is the experience of harmony and unity among the members. It does not have to be perfect; it cannot be, also.
But as long as one feels an atmosphere of togetherness of purpose and mutuality of love and concern, the rest of the challenges can be faced with positivity.
Gospel • John 17:11b-19
Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed, saying: “Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one. When I was with them I protected them in your name that you gave me, and I guarded them, and none of them was lost except the son of destruction, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
But now I am coming to you. I speak this in the world so that they may share my joy completely. I gave them your word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world.
I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the Evil One. They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world. And I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth.”
Source: “365 Days with the Lord 2025,” St. Paul’s, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.
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