This Sunday is the last Sunday before the wonderful feast of Pentecost and today we are presented with part of our Lord’s Priestly Prayer as found in St John’s Gospel. Jesus is preparing the ground for the sending of the Holy Spirit. He is encouraging us to be united, to be as one, in order to be ready to receive the Holy Spirit – the third and unifying person of the Holy Trinity. We should be bound together in love just as the Trinity is bound together in love, just as the apostles were gathered in love. If we glance into the Upper Room before the coming of the Holy Spirit, we see the apostles together, united and praying as one (Acts 2:1). This One-ness, this unity, is key in our preparation for the coming of the Holy Spirit. As we look forward to Pentecost, let us be more conscious of the need we have for unity, for without it things fall apart; spiritually, without unity the coming of the Holy Spirit and our ability to receive His gifts and fruits can pass us by. The Holy Spirit is our means to be of one mind and heart in serving God and serving one another. The Holy Spirit opens us to accepting and working as one force for good in our families, in our parish, in all we do. Now is the time to allow God’s love for us – and our love for Him – to mould us and make us one.

….Lives in God