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“that they all may be one”
(Homily at the Ordination of Mgr. de Gouveia)

In the Gospel of John, Jesus prays for unity among his disciples. Remember the question: “who do people say I am?”, or again: “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these others do? If so, look after my sheep”. Belief in Jesus then, involves personal commitment and love. A disciple has to know who Jesus is. He/she is expected to confess that Jesus is the Christ, that Jesus is the Son of God.

The model of unity proposed for the disciples is the unity that exists between God the Father and the Son. While love for one another is emphasised, this unity goes beyond moral solidarity or sheer human fellowship; it is based on the gift of life that flows from Jesus Christ Himself. This unity among the followers of Christ has to be visible enough so as to challenge people to believe in Jesus.

Christians come to believe in Jesus when they see the living unity of the disciples of Jesus. They come to faith through the preaching of the disciples of Jesus. Now those preachers upon whom hands have been laid, receive a mandate that makes them the ambassadors of Christ. An ambassador is not just a diplomatic mailbag. An ambassador represents his or her government. Those who proclaim the Good News of Salvation, become part of the very message they proclaim.

St. Paul in writing to Timothy, urges us to fan into flame the gift of God which is in you through the laying of hands. We have been given the gifts of strength, love and self-control. We are being asked to rekindle our faith and live a lifestyle that reflects moral maturity. All too often, the opposition faced by clergy has nothing to do with the Gospel we claim to preach. The opposition is directed at our human selves, at our own sinfulness and stubbornness; at our lack of faith, at our lack of loyalty to the very Gospel we purport to preach. On the outside some of us look like decent human beings. Inside, we are damaged goods. If salt becomes tasteless, what can make it salty again? (Mt.5.13). Some of us in our twilight years still play “hide and seek” with the priesthood, with God and the people of God. Hence the massive credibility deficit. The church is accused of closing ranks, of being excessively preoccupied with its image, of being secretive, of hiding away its dirty linen. This is not the kind of unity Jesus is praying for. He is praying for a unity based on faith and integrity enough to challenge the world to believe in Jesus Christ. The church is criticised heavily because it has set high standards of moral behaviour. The fact that there is a negligible fraction of those who default is neither here nor there. It is not about statistics. It is about the holier than thou attitude. It is about perception.

Notwithstanding their human limitations, the disciples of Christ are supposed to be models, symbols of what believers should be. Christ prays also for the unity of Christians. The unity amongst themselves, rooted in the unity of God the Father and the Son, should be a challenge to the world so that the world may appreciate the value of oneness, of common belonging, of community and consequently to believe that Jesus was sent by God the Father.

For Christians, this unity should show itself in family life, in the unity of husband and wife. This unity should be the goal of all ecumenical endeavours.

Finally, during the World Cup tournament, South Africa demonstrated a spirit of unity never experienced before. A sense of nationhood and national pride permeated the entire country. For a moment, one’s social class no longer mattered, one’s racial background became irrelevant and one’s political allegiance ceased to be an issue. The euphoria of the World Cup will soon be dissipated and the challenge of national unity will again stare us in the face. One small way of removing the symbolic stumbling blocks to national unity would be to have the political will to banish or privatize freedom songs during national events. Freedom songs continue to cast the nation in racial terms of white and black. Freedom songs celebrate the victory of the oppressed over the oppressor. Freedom songs alienate one group from another. Freedom songs undermine the spirit of national unity. The people of South Africa are now free. So why should we harp on the painful divisions of the past? It is time to sing a new song and to consign the freedom songs to the archives of the national museum where they belong. National days must attract South Africans of all walks of life and not just members of one political party.