In this Sunday’s gospel (June 1, 2025), Jesus prays for his disciples and those who believe in Him (John 17:20-26). Verses 20 and 21, say:
“I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.”
Jesus prayed, principally, for His eleven disciples. At that time, Judas Iscariot had already left the group. However, He also had the heart and vision to pray for those who would follow his disciples. He prayed for those who would come to faith by the testimony of these disciples. He prayed for us, believers.
Jesus was preparing to bear His cross and be hanged on it, he knew that His disciples would be temporarily scattered and, even with great dismay, would return to their customary work. This was the case of the seven disciples of Jesus who went fishing (John 21:3) at its post-resurrection event.
He prayed that they would endure in losing hope. He didn’t have a vague hope in what God would do through the disciples. Jesus left His earthly work full of confidence in the work of God through His disciples.
The entire tone of Jesus’ farewell discourse is built on the assumption that after the resurrection, His disciples would renew their faith and carry on a new ministry in the power of the Holy Spirit.
By worldly standards of success, Jesus had little to show for his mission. Yet Jesus left His earthly work full of confidence in the work of God through His disciples.
He prayed “also for all who will ever believe in me through their message.” He prayed for them. He knew His intercession for them would prevail. Other people would hear from His disciples. Many would come to believe in Jesus through the testimony of His disciples. He knew that His intercession for us would prevail.
“That they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me” (John 17:21).
Jesus envisioned the great multitude before the throne of God of every nation, race, language, class, and social level (Revelation 7:9-10). Jesus prayed that they might rise above their different backgrounds and understand their unity; that they might all be as one.
It’s as if Jesus prayed with this in mind: “Father, I have prayed for the unity of the disciples You gave Me. Yet they are all Galileans, from this time and place. There will be countless others who also become disciples, and they will come from every nation, every language, every culture, every class, every status, from every age through the rest of history. Father, make them one.”
Christ will have all his followers to be one in spirit, one in rights and privileges, and one in the blessedness of the future world.
He uttered, “That they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You.” Earlier in this prayer, Jesus prayed specifically that the eleven disciples present at His prayer remain unified (that they may be one as We are, John 17:11). Here, Jesus broadened the sense of that prayer to all believers, that they all may be one.
“That they also may be one in Us.” The oneness Jesus had in mind was the unity that comes from the shared life in both God the Father and God the Son.
As before, Jesus did not pray for uniformity or institutional unity among believers, but for unity rooted in love and a shared nature, bringing together the many different parts of Jesus’ one body. This isn’t an established uniformity seeking to unite wheat and tares, nor is it the unity of institutions. Jesus had in mind the true unity of the Spirit (Ephesians 4:3).
As in the previous prayer for the eleven, Jesus prayed that their unity would follow the pattern of the unity of the Godhead, specifically in the relationship between God the Father and God the Son. If the Father is in him and he is in them, then the Father is in them: they are drawn into the very life of God, and the life of God is perfect love.
Why are we not one? Sin is the great dividing element. The sin, especially, of having no recognition of differences in social status and classes of the people. In the kingdom of God, all are equal. The perfectly holy and kingdom-oriented people would be perfectly united. The more saintly people are, the more they love their Lord and one another; and thus they come into closer union with each other.
We are to be faithful to truth, but we are not to be of a contentious spirit, separating ourselves from those who are living members of the one and indivisible body of Christ. To promote the unity of the church, creating new divisions is not wise. Cultivate at once the love of the truth and the love of the siblings of God.
The repetition and extension of this prayer to all future believers is important. It shows that unity among the broader body of Jesus Christ was and is very important to Jesus.
“As You, Father, are in Me, and I in You” also speaks to the truth that the foundation of our unity is the same as the foundation of unity between the Father and the Son: equality of person. We are all on the same ground at the cross.
We must remember that those in whom Christ lives are not uniform, but one. Uniformity may be found in death, but this unity is life. Those who are quite uniform may yet have no love for each other, while those who differ widely may still be truly and intensely one. Our children are not uniform, but they make one family.
We must believe that this prayer was answered and that the church is one. Our failure is in failing to recognize and walk in that divine fact.
“That the world may believe that You sent Me” was a remarkable statement. Jesus essentially gave the world permission to judge the validity of His ministry based on the unity of His people. Unity among God’s people helps the world to believe that the Father sent the Son.
Even when He prays for their unity, he looks beyond their unity to the still unconverted world, which stands in need of the witness generated by that unity.
In unity, we speak of the unity of all people, and it is not just Christian unity. Oikoumené means world, inhabited earth, household. It means all people and creation.
The Roman Catholic Church has its own program of oikoumené. It is in the form of ecumenism and inter-religious dialogue. When it comes to unity, its first step is to unite “all Roman Catholic members.” Walking further, it is the second step, to unite “all Christians.” The third step is to unite “with non-Christian believers.” Then the last step is to unite “with non-believers.”
Be that as it may, in May 23, 2021, the common statement of Christians in the Philippines signed and launched the “One Ecumenical Family.” This is a “Unity Statement of the Christian Churches on the Occasion of the 500th Year of Christianity in the Philippines.”
The statement was signed by:
ARCHBISHOP ROMULO G. VALLES, D.D.
President, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines
ARCHBISHOP ANGELITO R. LAMPON, OMI, D.D.
Chairman, CBCP-Episcopal Commission on Ecumenical Affairs
ARCHBISHOP ANTONIO J. LEDESMA, SJ, D.D.
Chairman, CBCP-Episcopal Commission on Mutual Relations
BISHOP REUEL NORMAN O. MARIGZA
General Secretary, National Council of Churches in the Philippines
BISHOP NOEL A. PANTOJA
National President, Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches
MOST REV. RHEE M. TIMBANG
Obispo Maximo, Iglesia Filipina Independiente
RIGHT REV. VICENTE SALVADOR R. BALLESTEROS
Diocesan Bishop, Diocese of Greater Manila Area, Iglesia Filipina Independiente
BISHOP MELZAR D. LABONTOG
General Secretary, United Church of Christ in the Philippines
BISHOP RAOUL V. VICTORIN0
President, Iglesia Unida Ekyumenikal
Let this one page be included here for our education:
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As we commemorate the 500th anniversary of Christianity in the Philippines, we, the Christian Churches, give thanks and praise to our loving Triune God for the grace that sustained the faith. We are thankful for the countless men and women who offered their lives in fulfilling the mission “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you” (Mt. 28:19-20).
We believe in the Lordship of Jesus Christ, our Savior, expressed in the Nicene Creed. We declare that we are one Ecumenical Family committed to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ in words and way of life.
We acknowledge that Christianity came along with colonialism under Spain and the United States of America. Such colonization brought about unprecedented violence and suffering to our people, including abuses committed against our indigenous people, and exploitation of our resources, to which some missionary activities contributed. Despite this sad reality, we commend the unrelenting missionary work, such as defending the rights of the natives against the aggression of colonizers and the sowing and cultivation of the Gospel across the archipelago. In these events, we have witnessed God constantly intervene in our history transforming our personal and collective sins towards conversion and renewal.
In the course of our history, we, the Christian Churches, admit that we have developed distrust and acrimony, which have ruptured relationships not only among ourselves but also with God and all of creation.
On this momentous occasion, we pledge to continue the healing process in the spirit of repentance and forgiveness. We commit to incarnate Christ in the world by becoming channels of reconciliation. Through the mercy of God, we seek forgiveness from one another and all those whom we have offended. We earnestly desire “to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God” (Micah 6:8) in order to credibly witness to the faith in the world today.
In the spirit of renewal, we reaffirm our preferential option for the poor, and our commitment to the protection of the exploited and oppressed, and the promotion of the rights of our indigenous brothers and sisters. We minister anew to those who suffer physically, emotionally, and spiritually. We commit to defend the sacredness of life and the fundamental rights of every human being; support gender equality in morally legitimate ways and promote efforts that advocate a more prominent role of women in the church and society. We furthermore commit to social justice and a simpler way of life; engage in peacebuilding and protect our sovereignty; and address consumerism and climate change. We pledge to pursue all these common advocacies as expressions of faith in our respective traditions and in the spirit of ecumenism.
Finally, we commend to God our deepest desire and longing for an authentic reconciliation and fraternity among all Christians, believers, non-believers, and among all peoples of goodwill, as desired by our Lord Jesus “That they may all be one, as 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” (John 17:21).
May this message be a witness to the greatness of God whose Spirit unites hearts and uplifts human souls through His Son, Jesus Christ.
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This One Ecumenical Family is 4-year old already but the promotion is somehow slow. Ecumenism to some Philippine Churches is not a priority program. Some Churches are still engaged in proselytizing.
Nevertheless, to promote this statement on August 31, 2021, the Manila Church People Ecumenical Fellowship (MCPEF) was organized.
The MCPEF is a group of people from various churches in Manila including the Roman Catholic Church (RCC), United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP), Iglesia Filipina Independiente, Iglesia Unida Ekyumenikal (IUE), Charismatic Episcopal Church, Laudato Si Movement Pilipinas, UniHarmony Partners Manila and Focolare Movement Philippines. The Fellowship was formed as a response to the “One Ecumenical Family” statement issued by the National Council of Churches (NCCP), the Roman Catholic Church (RCC), and the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches (PCEC).
During the 2nd anniversary of MCPEF, we had warmly welcomed the participation of Igreja Católica Apostólica Brasileira nas Filipinas – Brazilian Catholic, Roman Catholic Society of Pope Leo XIII and Institute of Spirituality in Asia. On the 3rd anniversary on the One Ecumenical Family, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints hosted the celebration. We also welcomed the participation of Old Roman Catholic Church Utrecht Succession (MSSPP ORCC), Independent Eastern Church (IEC) and other individuals.
This year, the MCPEF is celebrating the 4th anniversary of “One Ecumenical Family” signing on June 10, 2025, a post Pentecost Sunday activity.
Our celebration will be held on June 10, 2025 (Tuesday) from 8:00 am to 1:00 pm at UCCP Cosmopolitan Church, 1368 Taft Ave. corner Apacible St., Ermita, Manila (in front of PGH- Philippine General Hospital).
We call all ecumenical stakeholders to please join and celebrate our Christian Unity. In this celebration we want to learn more about a brief history and principles/statement on Ecumenism of its Church/organization (it can also relate it to the “One Ecumenical Family” statement) in a 5 to 7 minutes presentation.
We call also on all church people to get organize as One Ecumenical Family either in the municipality, city, province and region.
