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.” (Jn 17:11b-19)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/060122.cfm
The sad divisions in Christianity are not what the Lord wants for us: “that they may be one just as we are one.” But we have been divided from the very beginning. Perhaps, one day, we will hear the Lord praying for us to be one, be rightfully ashamed of ourselves, do the hard work of reconciliation, and embrace one another as members of one family. Justin Martyr was an apologist of the early church. He was martyred in the year 165.
These reflections are a result of more than 40 years of ministry as a Roman Catholic priest. Most of these years I spent in the Diocese of Charlotte which covers Western North Carolina. Now I am retired, and live in Medellín, Colombia where I continue to serve as a priest in the Archdiocese of Medellín.
Justin Martyr, June 1
