June 1, 2025
Revised Common Lectionary
Acts 16:16-34
Psalm 97
Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21
John 17:20-26
Lectionary for Mass (RC)
Acts 7:55-60
Psalm 97:1-2, 6-7, 9 (1a, 9a)
Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20
John 17:20-26
On this Sunday many communities are celebrating the Ascension of the Lord. You may find reflections for that feast here and here.
If you knew that your death was imminent, and you had one final chance to speak with those you love most—what would you say? What wisdom, hopes, and prayers would you share?
In these last weeks of the Easter season, we hear readings from Jesus’s farewell discourse in the Gospel of John. As he gathers with his disciples for the final time before his death and resurrection, Jesus offers instructions on how they are to live and carry out his mission. Today’s reading concludes that discourse as Jesus shifts from teaching to praying—not only for his disciples but also for all who will come to believe in him through their words (see Jn 17:20).
Interestingly, Jesus does not pray for success or safety for his followers. He knows they will face failure, opposition, and even persecution. Instead, he prays simply “that they may all be one” (Jn 17:21).
This longing for unity resonates deeply today, as we find ourselves surrounded by divisions—within and between families, communities, and nations. We know families where members refuse to speak, political leaders who marginalize others to score points, and society’s fears stoked to justify suspicion and exclusion. Powerful voices often encourage division to maintain control—divide and conquer.
Even among Christians, the dream of unity sometimes feels out of reach. How often do we experience or even express pain over the divisions among followers of Jesus? Do we share his fervent desire to tear down the walls that separate us?
The harsh truth is that many of us have become cynical about unity. Too often, we have allowed our hearts to be hardened and to accept disunity as inevitable. But true unity can only emerge from open hearts and minds. Unity results not from forcing sameness or rigid uniformity but from cracking open our spirits to receive the indwelling of God and the gift of the other.
The unity for which Jesus prayed is not something we can achieve solely through human effort. Like the peace and love of which he speaks earlier in his farewell, unity is a gift to be received, not a work to be accomplished. It begins with humility, receptivity, and a willingness to see Christ in the “other.”
Today’s Gospel challenges us to make this prayer our own: “that they may all be one” (Jn 17:21). If we, as followers of Jesus, embrace this prayer and open our hearts—even to those who are different or difficult—we bear witness to the risen Christ within us. In doing so, we help plant the seed of unity that the world so desperately needs.
A Hymn for Today: “Help us accept each other”
This text is one of the best known and most significant of more than 200 hymns written by Dutch-born Fred Kaan, FHS, who studied and served as a pastor in Great Britain. This powerful prayer for reconciliation and forgiveness is based on acceptance of the other, concluding with a fervent plea that echoes the prayer of Jesus in today’s Gospel: “Lord, free us; make us one!”
Help us accept each other as Christ accepted us;
teach us as sister, brother, each person to embrace.
Be present, Lord, among us and bring us to believe
we are ourselves accepted, and meant to love and live.
Teach us, O Lord, your lessons, as in our daily life
we struggle to be human and search for hope and faith.
Teach us to care for people, for all, not just for some,
to love them as we find them, or as they may become.
Let your acceptance change us, so that we may be moved
in living situations to do the truth in love;
to practice your acceptance until we know by heart
the table of forgiveness, and laughter’s healing art.
Lord, for today’s encounters with all who are in need,
who hunger for acceptance, for justice and for bread,
we need new eyes for seeing, new hands for holding on:
renew us with your Spirit; Lord, free us; make us one!
Text: Fred Kaan (1929-2009), © 1975, Hope Publishing Company. Used by permission under OneLicense #A-729857.
Tunes: ACCEPTANCE, BARONITA, AURELIA
Image Credit: Unity in Diversity, Fady Habib, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
“Word and Song: A Lectionary Reflection” is written by the Executive Director of The Hymn Society, Rev. Dr. Mike McMahon. For his full bio, click here and scroll down to the “staff” section.
To receive these weekly reflections by email, please send a message to office@thehymnsociety.org and type “Lectionary” in the subject line.