John 17:11
And now I am no more in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to thee. Holy Father, keep them in thy name, which thou hast given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.
Among other things, Mass is the sacrament of the unity of the Body of Christ. One wag has said that when people tell him “I’ll be there in spirit!” he knows that really means, “I won’t be there.” Jesus knew that too, which is why he did not leave us as orphans but remains with us, not only in Spirit, but in the sacramental presence of the Holy Eucharist. In the same way, he now calls us to be members of one another, not just “in spirit” but for real. That means we not only are “together” in our hearts, but really together in the same room, offering the same prayers, making the same physical gestures, hearing the same Scriptures, offering the same bread and wine and receiving the same Body and Blood of Christ. As we do this, we are, by the promise of Christ, joined not only to each other but with God himself. And our unity, according to today’s Scripture, is to be the same as the unity that exists between Father and the Son in the Godhead. Today, thank God for the miraculous unity of the Body of Christ and for his even more miraculous gift of unity with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit!
