"May Christ dwell in your hearts through faith; to the end that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be strengthened to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know Christ’s love which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."
Paul's letter to the Ephesians
We have all had experiences of having to say goodbye to a loved one at a time when we both knew that we would never meet again.
I recall an incident like this in 1988 after my family learned that my mother had only a few months to live. When we met with her at the hospital, she took the opportunity to express her love and to tell us how proud she was of us all. It was a moment of great emotional sadness, but also a moment when the bonds of family unity and love among us was the strongest. We've all at times experienced that mystical union that results when people and family know that they are there for each other, and that the bonds of unity cannot be broken, even by physical separation.
Is this because we all share a common world view, or a common way of thinking? Certainly not. This unity results from something much deeper. We are family, and our differences, regardless of whatever they may be, could not break the mysterious bond that held us together as a family.
Our New Testament Scripture readings speak about the farewells similar to this, and they also speak about that bond of unity that existed among them created by that deep relationship of love.
Saint Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, is saying good-bye to the people with whom he shared faith for several years. Despite knowing that this separation would be permanent, it is obvious that his bond of unity and oneness with them would never be broken.
"For this cause, I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,
that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, that you may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inward self."
In John's Gospel, Jesus offers a prayer to the Father for His disciples from whom He will soon be separated by death. This prayer to the Father is an expression of the bond and unity that holds people of faith together despite physical separation. It is this mysterious force that must be found in our Churches if we wish them to continue.
This prayer in the Gospel of John expresses this bond of unity in three dimensions:
(1) Jesus' unity with the Father, a unity He invites us all to enter into. Do you experience the Father's love for you; a love that says: "I'm proud of you", a love that causes us to reciprocate with our love?
(2) Jesus' love for His disciples, His love for us, binding us into a relationship of brotherhood with Him.
(3) And springing from these two loves, we have our love for each other. This love exists, not because we all have the same outlook, or share the same view. It is deeper than that. It is a love that unites us around a common faith in Christ. And despite our exterior differences, we know we are here for each other, sharing a common journey that leads to shared life with Him.
Jesus' prayer to the Father conveys to us this love that leads to that deeper sense of unity with each other. This love nourishes and sustains us through difficult times, helps us to overcome our superficial differences, and moves us towards that common mission to which we are all called.
"I am not praying only for these but for all those who will believe in me through their message, that they may all be one. Just as you, Father, live in me and I live in you, I am asking that they may live in us, that the world may believe that you did send me. Father, I want those whom you have given me to be with me where I am; I want them to see that glory which you have made mine - for you loved me before the world began.
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