Daily Reflections- May 24, 2012

ONENESS IS GODLINESS

 

This part of the long Last Supper story of Jesus according to St. John is called “the Priestly Prayer.” Jesus, exercising His role as mediator between the Heavenly Father and us, offers intercessory prayers in the manner of a priest — first for the Twelve Apostles, then for all of us. Above all things, Jesus prays for the grace of oneness for all believers in the same way that He and the Heavenly Father are one.

         Oneness is not a simple virtue in building relationships, like any other virtue in community. Oneness is part of a supernatural anointing for persons in a relationship, whether it is in a family or in a community. In the conferences for the Marriage Encounter Weekend, when the dynamics of the weekend come into the aspect of discussing marriage as a story about “You, I and God,” the presentation develops the following progressive flow of teachings:

1. Marriage is not just a human decision to love but a divine call. It is God who made man and He willed that man be male and female. God did so because it is not good for the male to be alone. In marriage, the man and the woman complete each other.

2. The divine call is first a call to be image and likeness of God. God is love, and a man and a woman in a relationship, more so in marriage, are called to be the image of love for one another. In fact, the creation of woman was brought about by God’s loving desire for man to be happy. Woman is then essentially the highest expression of God’s love for the man.

3. The divine call is secondly a call to be a community of oneness. God is love, and this essential nature of the divinity is manifested in two manners: first, in God’s being a community of Three Persons in one God, and second, in God’s care and oneness with humanity. Jesus communicated the Oneness of God to us by becoming truly human like us. The gift of oneness and unity is not just a human ideal then, but a true mark of godliness!Fr. Domie Guzman, SSP

 

REFLECTION QUESTIONS: In what ways do you foster unity in mind and heart between you and your community members? In what ways do you experience personally the truth that Oneness is godliness?

 

Lord Jesus, teach me to be one with You, and may this unity flow to my relationship with others.