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. 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.” (Jn 17:11b-19)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/052423.cfm
The High Priestly Prayer of Jesus continues. And what a powerful prayer it is. A prayer for unity among believers, a prayer of consecration. In a world torn by so many divisions not the least being the divisions in the church and between believers, we need this prayer more than ever before. Mary Help of Christians is an old and popular title of the Virgin Mary. I learned the devotion to Mary Help of Christians from my Colombian madrecita, Doña Ofelia Arroyave.
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.
Mary, Help of Christians, May 24
