[00:00] I pray not only for these, but also for those who will believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

[00:30] "Believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me, and I in you." We continue in today's Gospel the high priestly prayer of Jesus, praying to the Father during the Last Supper, and this time He prays for unity among His disciples. The Church has always enjoyed unity, you could say, as one of the marks of the Church, unity,

[01:05] holiness, catholicity, and apostolicity. The Church is always one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic. Throughout the ages, and even from the very earliest times, sectarian groups have caused division within the Church, and sometimes reaching the point of being broken off from the Church. And sadly today, the splinter groups within the body of Christians number in the tens

[01:43] of thousands, so many groups, splinter groups. The visible sign of unity among Christians is lacking, to say the least. It's one of the greatest embarrassments, and even scandals before the world, and one of the greatest hindrances or obstacles to the Church's mission of preaching the Gospel to all the world more effectively, leading all souls to Christ within and through the Church.

[02:18] It's more difficult to do this with so many splinter groups within Christianity. We should be saddened about this, about so many great divisions, so many divisions among Christians, and we should seek to remedy it, remedy this huge problem. How? First, above all, pray.

[02:49] Pray for Christian unity. That's what the Church has us do every year. Towards the beginning of every year, there's a week dedicated to prayer for Christian unity. But that's just one week. It's just an annual, let's say, week-long commitment with the intention of making it, you could say, a year-long event, you know, it's continual. Keep praying for Christian unity all throughout the year.

[03:23] So prayer, the first and most important thing. And then what else? We'll try to be more ecumenically minded, engage in ecumenism, ecumenical work. And what is that? Practically speaking, it is seeking common ground with other Christians, other, let's say, non-Catholic Christians, Orthodox and Protestants, you know, what we have in common. Engage in common works, good works.

[03:58] Engage in respectful dialogue to have a greater mutual understanding. We actually know these other Christians, who they are, what they believe, what they practice and so forth. Have a greater knowledge of them. And also, respectful dialogue will eventually include addressing points where we disagree

[04:34] and try to reach, let's say, agreement, you know, the truth in question. And the intention is, of course, to lead these other Christians into full union with the Catholic Church. Help them to reach that full union with Christ's Church. We can appreciate all the good that these other Christians have, all that they do.

[05:05] I mean, for example, you know, their great love for the Bible, you know, Protestants especially they have a great love for Scripture and that is admirable, inspiring. They also, you know, the Orthodox, you know, for their part, they have a great love for, you know, sacred iconography, beautiful images. They have a great love for Our Lady.

[05:36] And they have a very beautiful tradition of, you know, a spiritual light, a spirituality and monastic life and so forth. And they also, all these Christians bear witness to the truth that there is no salvation apart from Christ, the one Savior and Lord who everyone must, you know, welcome in their life in faith and trust. There's the need to pray. These Christians, they make that known. We all need to pray.

[06:13] Also engage in various good works, you know, pro-life work, fighting for the marriage and family life according to God's plan. These are things that they do and we should appreciate that. But also, we should share with them the good things that they are lacking, the good that Christ intends for them and for everyone to have. And again, which only the Catholic Church provides.

[06:45] All the sacraments, you know, Orthodox, they have all the sacraments, Protestants do not. All of sacred Scripture, you know, Protestants are missing seven books in the Old Testament. There should be all 73 books in the Bible. Sacred tradition, you know, this other pillar, let's say, of divine revelation, so written Scripture and also oral sacred tradition.

[07:17] And also the authoritative teaching of the Church, the Magisterium is needed to be given to them, particularly the Vicar of Christ on earth, the Pope, who is an indispensable source of unity for all Christians. So these are some of the things that we need to share with our brothers and sisters in Christ. It's necessary to engage in ecumenism.

[07:47] As Pope John Paul II remarks in his 1995 encyclical on commitment to ecumenism, Ut Unum Sint, he says, ecumenism, the movement promoting Christian unity, is not just some sort of appendix which is added to the Church's traditional activity, rather ecumenism is an organic part of her life and work. To work towards fulfilling our Lord's prayer to the Father, Ut Unum Sint, that they might all be one in His Church.

[08:26] So let us do more, pray more, sacrifice more, be holier, strive to be holier ourselves and more faithful to all that we have in the Catholic Church, you know, especially just being so ever more grateful for, for example, the Most Holy Eucharist, the Blessed Sacrament, to cherish these great treasures we have. So be holier ourselves, be more faithful to Christ as sons and daughters of Holy Mother

[09:02] Church, be more ecumenical and bring to fulfillment this visible unity of all Christians in the one holy Catholic and apostolic Church. Mary, Mother of the Church, pray for us. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.