The associated reading for this reflection can be found in your Every Sacred Sunday Mass journal or online here.
In today’s Gospel reading, we see Christ’s call to Christian unity by praying to His Heavenly Father that all Christians stand united in Him. John 17 is famously referred to as the “High Priestly Prayer of Jesus” before he underwent his death on Calvary, calling for unity and holiness among His disciples.
I grew up in India in an Eastern Catholic Tradition called as the Syro-Malabar rite, which was founded by the Apostle Thomas. My parents did the best they could to bring me up in the Catholic faith from a very young age, and catechized me along with receiving the Sacraments of the Church. Although I was partaking of these various ritualistic activities prescribed by the Church, none of it made any sense to me.
During my teenage years, I would ask my parents and other friends questions pertaining to the Catholic faith, but the responses I would get from them wouldn’t satisfy my intellectual hunger. If Christianity was true, why would there be thousands of other denominations that believed different things about the Bible and the teachings of the Church? This began to create doubts about the authenticity of the Catholic faith and how much of it I could really trust.
In coming to Texas, I encountered students, primarily Baptists, who were on fire for their faith. Soon I found myself hanging out with them and going to their church services. As I became more involved with them, a few students began challenging my faith asking me to produce evidence of my beliefs from the Bible. This made me more confused as I struggled to understand why there was so much division that existed amongst the Catholics and Baptists.
During the peak of the pandemic, I decided to take a deeper dive into the intellectual aspects of the Catholic Church. I soon encountered scholarly articles, podcasts, and books written by theologians who had a profound gift of clearly explaining the faith. Through this, I discovered that the Catholic faith really is the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic faith that was started by Christ Himself.
This is why Jesus prayed for unity amongst His followers and disciples. The Church is led by the Holy Spirit into all truth, and the teachings of the Church help us stay on track. They’re like guardrails that ensure we don’t deviate and fall away from the Church. It is my sincere prayer that everyone who reads the high priestly prayer of Christ may be called to understand the true Church started by Christ, so that we may all be One in Him, united in our faith and beliefs.
Jithesh Augustine is a senior scientist at MD Anderson Cancer Center finding novel treatments for pancreatic cancer. He enjoys reading science and spiritual books and listening to theological podcasts. He grasps at every opportunity to evangelize and engage young adults in his community. You can find him on Instagram or Facebook.