| Written by Margaret Suen, Catholic Register Special,
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Views : 527  |
 Editor's Note: This is a runner-up essay winner in the Friars’ Student Writing Award. Margaret Suen is a Grade 12 student at St. Joseph Morrow Park Catholic Secondary School. The Register will publish all six winning essays.
In our society today, we see many Christians around us, be they Catholic, Orthodox or Protestant. But in the end, we all believe in the same God and share a common prayer. Prayer is the single driving force that will bring all Christians together in unity. It rises above all differences, gathers us together and allows God to accomplish things for us on Earth.
Prayer raises us above all differences and makes it possible for us all to come together in Christ. The more we grow in our common prayer, the more we realize how little divides us compared with what unites us. In the Lord’s Prayer, which is the most widely used prayer in the Christian world, we proclaim that “Thy will be done …” God wills us to attain Christian unity. Even with our different opinions about our basic beliefs, God’s will is the same for all Christians. That universal goal, compared to all our variations in opinions, makes our slightly different views become measly things that hold us apart. We need God’s help to give us the strength to push aside our differences and focus on achieving our mutual goal. To our Heavenly Father, a prayer is a prayer. He does not look at who said it; He will give His graces to him who prayed with a pure heart.
Secondly, prayer will always gather people just as Mary and the apostles gathered to pray for the coming of the Holy Spirit. As the Holy Spirit descended down upon the apostles, they were given the gift of tongues. In the Old Testament, when the Babylonian Tower was destroyed, people were divided and languages became a barrier. By receiving the gift of tongues, the barrier was symbolically broken and all people understood the apostle’s words, which united us all in one common language. As part of our congregations, we come together to praise and worship our God and pray for a renewed Pentecost. As we meet more often and regularly to pray to God, we will acquire the courage to face the human reality of our divisions. The more we pray, the more people we will gather together for the movement of Christian unity.
Lastly, prayer is the way God accomplishes things. First, He makes us, His servants on earth, ask and then, by His power carries out our requests. We pray to him time after time but there truly are some beings in our universe that never cease praying. The saints and angels are continuously praying for us. The prayers of the communion of saints and of the choir of angels in Heaven will strengthen our prayers. When they intercede on our behalf, He will respond with an even greater generosity.
Jesus Christ our Lord created one church and one church only. Division among Christians openly contradicts God’s will. On the night of His death, Jesus prayed to our Father that we may all be one. Through our never ending stream of prayers, we will one day achieve Christian unity in His name.
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