“Don’t just talk to the Paraclete. Listen to him! When you pray, consider how the life of childhood, which enabled you to realise deeply that you are a son of God, filled you with a filial love for the Father. Think how, before that, you have gone (2) to Jesus, whom you adore as his friend, as his brother, as his lover, for that is what you are… After receiving this advice you realized that until now you had known that the Holy Spirit was dwelling in your soul, to sanctify it… But you hadn’t really grasped this truth about his presence. You needed that advice. Now you feel his Love within you, and you want to talk to him, to be his friend, to confide in him… You want to facilitate his work of polishing, uprooting, and enkindling… I wouldn’t know how to set about it!, you thought. Listen to him, I insist. He will give you strength. He will do everything, if you so want… And you do want! Pray to him: Divine Guest, Master, Light, Guide, Love, may I make you truly welcome inside me and listen to the lessons you teach me. Make me burn with eagerness for you, make me follow you and love you.” (1)

It was the last church we visited in Rome, literally next door to our hotel.  It doesn’t even show up on most google maps. San Salvatore, and yet only one place had as much an effect on me.  Tucked away, nothing to look at from the outside, we walked in.  An older man, wearing a stole but not clericals, handed us prayer cards and welcomed us there.

It was a special place to prayer, even more perhaps because of the story of this man, this shepherd, who would have God’s people united.  That seemed to be the focus of his ministry, as it was revealed on these simple prayer cards.

In all the discussions on unity in the church, I have often wondered why we do not spend as much time praying, as we do talking.  Why we don’t spend as much time listening, and even contemplating the Unity of the Trinity, as we do talking about theology and philosophy.  If by our own reason and strength we cannot come to know Christ, how do we expect unity to come without prayer, without grasping the work of the Holy Spirit, without even thinking about how God finds unity…in God.

I am writing to much, but perhaps on this, the last weekend of the church year…it is time to consider that we shall be one in scripture, and maybe it is time to start findng joy that oneness…. here.

(1)Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 1652-1663). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.

(2) (excerpted through Mary)