At the Last Supper, Jesus prayed for those gathered with him at the table, knowing that his message would be entrusted to them in a unique way. But he did not pray only for the apostles, he prayed for us, too:
I pray not only for them,but also for those who will believe in methrough their word,so that they may all be oneas you, Father, are in me and I in you,that they also may be in us,that the world may believe that you sent me.
You prayed, Lord,
that we might all be one
– but we’re not…
Rather, we are
divided, scattered and split apart,
detached, conflicted and separate,
torn asunder, opposed and contrary,
parted, ruptured and riven,
fragmented, splintered and disconnected,
broken, in pieces and apart…
We need healing, Lord,
healing deep within
our painful, self-inflicted wounds…
We need mending, Lord,
mending of the brokenness
that weakens and impairs us…
We need wisdom, Lord,
wisdom to enable us
to do what’s right and just…
We need to be humbled, Lord,
stripped of our smug arrogance,
presumption and pretension…
We need to be moved, Lord,
moved from our intransigence
to truth as you reveal it…
We need to be forgiven, Lord,
reconciled with you
and with those whom we’ve denounced…
You prayed, Lord,
that we might all be one
– but we are not…
We’re not one in our nation,
we’re not one in our Church,
we’re not one in our communities,
we’re not one in our families,
we’re not one with with you
and often we’re not even one with our selves
and so we pray, Lord…
With the power your mercy,
open wide our minds and hearts,
heal our blindness to your truth,
move our souls beyond our selfishness
and make us one in you
and through you
make us one with one another
just as you are in one in love
with the Father and the Spirit…
Protect us, Lord while we’re awake
and watch over us while we sleep
that awake, we might keep watch with you
and asleep, rest in your peace…