UNITY IS PRECIOUS THAN GOLD
In our Catholic Faith we believe in one God in three persons, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. From our origin, unit is demonstrated in a perfect way that God is one but in three persons. Catholic Catechism states “The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life. It is the mystery of God in himself. It is therefore the source of all the other mysteries of faith, the light that enlightens them.” (CCC # 234) From this unity we draw great inspiration to follow in our lives. It is the unity which is perfect, unshakable, undivided, omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, eternal, and unchanging. United together by the undivided divine love. We draw great example of unity from our creator including, cooperation and perfect union. In this great illustration we are to get a model of unity all the time in everything that we perform. We are to understand that our nature is unity. When we endure in unity then we follow from our creator. Unity is the desire of our interior life and our hearts; however, it can be a challenge to keep it the way we desire from our hearts. We can preserve it in case we follow his ways, and listen attentively the commandments of our creator and do his will all the time.
As we read from the Holy Bible that “The whole group of believers was united heart and soul” (Acts 4: 32) They worked together in the spirit of the Risen Lord and Jesus continued to empower them to proclaim the word of God. As they persist united together, they became very successful. Whatever is done in unity and good collaboration, will bring boundless results. The grace they received of the Risen Lord is the grace of calling people to unity always. When believers are able to keep this unit appropriately, means they will motivate other people to follow the Lord. Grace of God will ever enthuse believers to keep and search for unity wherever they are. When the disciples kept the unity, their number kept on growing tremendously because of the grace of God that unites people. Unit is deeply rooted in our hearts and God created us in that way. When we are able to observe unit and respect it always, we shall have much countless fruits of the Kingdom of God
Our Co-founders, Bishop Sixitus Mazzoldi and Very Rev. Fr. John Marengoni, were people who esteemed unity continuously. They were always speaking about unity of the congregation strongly. Our Co-founders used all efforts to make sure that they unite the members the best way possible. I listened the homily of Rev Marengoni one day and he was all the time insisting on unit of all the members. He talked of working together in unity and cooperation at all time. Wherever they visited a community, they stressed much about the unity of the members and encouraged them to work together in the field of evangelization. Our Co-founders did this by showing vivid examples from themselves as they were all the time united to lead the congregation of the Apostles of Jesus. They laid solid foundation of unit among the members of the Institute of the Apostles of Jesus wherever they are. They deeply emphasized the importance of community life which sustains their unity. They did comprehend the importance of being united all the time and that is why they prompted people from time to time about unit of the members. Unit is a great tressure if it is well accepted and practiced by everyone. Our Co-founder left the great legacy of unity in our institution of Apostles of Jesus.
In the Catholic Catechism states that says: “The church is one because of her founder; for the Word made flesh, the prince of peace, reconciled all men to God by the cross… restoring the unit of all-in-one people and one body” (CCC # 813) unity is well addressed to all the members of the church. Unity is quite indispensable for the life. The Catechism continues to say and to insist that Unity is the essence of the Church. Unit is component of faith that is very crucial ever to be reflected and acted upon. All the time we are to consider about how to persist in unity and how to bring people together in unity when they have the challenge of unit wherever the place may be. It is good for any believer to take a step. Unit needs all the time to be embraced by all possible means. Our nature is to stay in unity with our creator and our Savior. This reminds that Jesus died on the cross in order to reconcile us with our heavenly Father so that we may remain in union with Him. We cannot be isolated but we are to be united with God and one another always. We are not solitary beings but social being which enable us to relate with one another all the time. Our Co-founders realized this and that is why all the time insisted about unity of all the member and the whole institute of the Apostles of Jesus.
African culture and tradition ever talk about unity with all the members. There is an African saying which says that a child is brought by the village. It means a child is raised not by family and relative only but the whole village make contribution to raise the child and to teach the child how to behave well all the time. This indicates unit of all the members wherever they are of the village. This displays the necessity of unit and remain united in all things that we do. One of the customs that we keep is that you can go to visit anybody without making appointments. And when you go wherever, find people eating you will certainly share with joy. This can be translated that we believe in unit all the time. We remain united and that is why you can visit people without appointments and you will not be rejected but received with great joy. This demonstrate to us that unit is quite fundamental in the life of human being. Our Co-founders lived the life of unit throughout their life, till when God called them. The way they were united left behind an indelible example to imitate.
In the church from the very beginning when the Apostles faced some challenges about some issues which they could destroy the unit they immediately called for the meeting. They convoked the council and discussed the matters at length to solve the problem. God blessed them and they were able to maintain the unit of the believers. Apostles paid attention to the unit of the believers and they decided to take action in order to bring people back. What they did it is what all the believes in all generations need to follow in order to preserve the unit of the people of God. Unit comes from above and it is our duty and responsibility that we are to teach and to protect unit. It is what our Co-founders maintained all the time to follow the ways of the Lord Jesus. When members remain in unit then people will be stirred to come to the Lord.
Unit is a great treasure when it is well kept following the will of God. Where there is unity all the time there is strength and grace. Unit is a gift that comes from God. When we are united as the believers of the Lord then many things will go in a right way without any trouble. Let us remember the promise of Jesus as he stated that “where two or more gathered in my name I am in their midst” (Math 10: 18) This confirms deeply that unit is a gift from God. If Jesus will be among them means God likes unit among the believers. Even when he sent the disciples, he sent them two by two and not one person. He did so to indicate and illustrate to them the importance of unit. Also, a great reminder that unit is a gift of the Holy Spirit when we keep and observe according to his will. Jesus all the time validated the need of unit with others and no solitary life only. Jesus elected the twelve to receive special mission and to keep unit of the believers. He started the unity of the believers so that they may be able to proclaim extensively his mission, support each other and protect the faith together. Wherever there is unit no doubt that there is extraordinary strength.
Jesus appointed Peter to be the head of all the believers in order to unite all of them and he became the source of unity of the Church as its head. Peter has been and will continue to be a strong uniting factor of the believers of the Lord. When people are united, they bring in their gifts of the Holy Spirit together at the service of the Church, to build the Kingdom of God. When the gifts of the Holy Spirit will be used for his will then we shall bear great fruits and no doubt about it. Though the Spirit is one but with variety of gifts from the same Spirit for the purpose of building of the Kingdom of God. We are all the members to keep unit and to proclaim unit because unit is a precious gift of the Holy Spirit to all the members of the Body of Christ. When believers are able to keep it according to the will of God then they will certainly produce many fruits in the work of evangelization.
Jesus prayer for the believers and mentioned clearly to be united and to remain one. The prayer of Jesus is classical for the spiritual growth towards the Kingdom of God. Jesus prayed for the believer and all those who will come to believe in the Lord. Jesus wants them all the time to continue united with God and then to each other. Jesus knows that when they will remain united with God and with one another, they will have much strength and power to protect the faith and inspire many people. Unit come from God and it is upon us to make sure we promote unit by all possible means. When we are united means God is with us and he will continue to inspire us and bless us all the time. Whenever people are united, they will manage to accomplish great things in life. Our Co-founders of our institute of the Apostles of Jesus knew this wisdom and that is why all the time they repeated to the members to be united together. When any problem could come, immediately, they could start talking about unit of the all the members.
All the popes, the successors of Peter, worked hard to unite the people of God. Usually they write many apostolic letters, exhortations, and encyclicals with the purpose of strengthening the unity of the People of God. Jesus left us united and he want us all the time to stay united with Him first then united with one another here on earth eventually in heaven. Many of the letters brings us the sense of uniting and deepening our faith as the people of God. For instance, Pope St John Paul the second wrote encyclicals called UT UNUM SINT, On commitment to ecumenism. Pope St John Paul II wrote this encyclical with the purpose of remind and uniting all the believers of the Lord to be united together to build the kingdom of God he inaugurated here on earth. Likewise, Pope Francis wanted so much to unite all the Christian together and the people of God. He wrote the ecumenical letter regarding the unit of the believers. He wants to bring all the churches together as the children of God. Recently, Pope Leo XIV wrote the Apostolic Letter: IN UNITATE FIDEI (In the Unity of Faith) on the occasion of the 1700th Anniversary of the Council of Nicea. Unit is the essential element of the people of God. Our Co-founders reflected deeply on unity and demonstrate by their exemplary life till death. They are even buried close to each other the same chapel of the Apostles of Jesus.
In the world, we have (United Nations). The main purpose of this great organization is to bring people together. Their intention is to foster unit among all the nations here earth. This was founded after the second world war which made many people today are members. The intention of UN is bringing all the living human being together in proper understanding and respecting one another. The leaders travel from one nation to another in order to meet people to talk about unit and stick together here on earth. Wherever there is unit, there no war because when people are united, they will not talk about fighting but staying together and cooperating together. Also, under UN there are other organizations which all the time try to bring people together in proper understanding. In this regard, brings the understanding the essential component of unit of the people of God. Unit is the great paragon that people can achieved. Our Co-founder promoted unit all the time of the believers of the Lord and all the members. By remaining united means, we are living the life inspired by heaven.
In concluding, I would like to emphasize about understanding the prerequisites of life in particular unit of the People of God. Unit illustrates the grace of God given to the believers and they use it well to glorify the Lord by serving one another. This is very important for the members of our Institute wherever you are. Unit brings strength but division bring weakness and even hostility in one way or another. Also, division does not come from God but come from the creatures for their personal interests. It is good all the time for the members to keep on praying for unit so that we may ever remain united as Jesus prayed for the believers to be united. “Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are” (John 17: 11).
In our Catholic Faith we believe in one God in three persons, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. From our origin, unit is demonstrated in a perfect way that God is one but in three persons. Catholic Catechism states “The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life. It is the mystery of God in himself. It is therefore the source of all the other mysteries of faith, the light that enlightens them.” (CCC # 234) From this unity we draw great inspiration to follow in our lives. It is the unity which is perfect, unshakable, undivided, omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, eternal, and unchanging. United together by the undivided divine love. We draw great example of unity from our creator including, cooperation and perfect union. In this great illustration we are to get a model of unity all the time in everything that we perform. We are to understand that our nature is unity. When we endure in unity then we follow from our creator. Unity is the desire of our interior life and our hearts; however, it can be a challenge to keep it the way we desire from our hearts. We can preserve it in case we follow his ways, and listen attentively the commandments of our creator and do his will all the time.
As we read from the Holy Bible that “The whole group of believers was united heart and soul” (Acts 4: 32) They worked together in the spirit of the Risen Lord and Jesus continued to empower them to proclaim the word of God. As they persist united together, they became very successful. Whatever is done in unity and good collaboration, will bring boundless results. The grace they received of the Risen Lord is the grace of calling people to unity always. When believers are able to keep this unit appropriately, means they will motivate other people to follow the Lord. Grace of God will ever enthuse believers to keep and search for unity wherever they are. When the disciples kept the unity, their number kept on growing tremendously because of the grace of God that unites people. Unit is deeply rooted in our hearts and God created us in that way. When we are able to observe unit and respect it always, we shall have much countless fruits of the Kingdom of God
Our Co-founders, Bishop Sixitus Mazzoldi and Very Rev. Fr. John Marengoni, were people who esteemed unity continuously. They were always speaking about unity of the congregation strongly. Our Co-founders used all efforts to make sure that they unite the members the best way possible. I listened the homily of Rev Marengoni one day and he was all the time insisting on unit of all the members. He talked of working together in unity and cooperation at all time. Wherever they visited a community, they stressed much about the unity of the members and encouraged them to work together in the field of evangelization. Our Co-founders did this by showing vivid examples from themselves as they were all the time united to lead the congregation of the Apostles of Jesus. They laid solid foundation of unit among the members of the Institute of the Apostles of Jesus wherever they are. They deeply emphasized the importance of community life which sustains their unity. They did comprehend the importance of being united all the time and that is why they prompted people from time to time about unit of the members. Unit is a great tressure if it is well accepted and practiced by everyone. Our Co-founder left the great legacy of unity in our institution of Apostles of Jesus.
In the Catholic Catechism states that says: “The church is one because of her founder; for the Word made flesh, the prince of peace, reconciled all men to God by the cross… restoring the unit of all-in-one people and one body” (CCC # 813) unity is well addressed to all the members of the church. Unity is quite indispensable for the life. The Catechism continues to say and to insist that Unity is the essence of the Church. Unit is component of faith that is very crucial ever to be reflected and acted upon. All the time we are to consider about how to persist in unity and how to bring people together in unity when they have the challenge of unit wherever the place may be. It is good for any believer to take a step. Unit needs all the time to be embraced by all possible means. Our nature is to stay in unity with our creator and our Savior. This reminds that Jesus died on the cross in order to reconcile us with our heavenly Father so that we may remain in union with Him. We cannot be isolated but we are to be united with God and one another always. We are not solitary beings but social being which enable us to relate with one another all the time. Our Co-founders realized this and that is why all the time insisted about unity of all the member and the whole institute of the Apostles of Jesus.
African culture and tradition ever talk about unity with all the members. There is an African saying which says that a child is brought by the village. It means a child is raised not by family and relative only but the whole village make contribution to raise the child and to teach the child how to behave well all the time. This indicates unit of all the members wherever they are of the village. This displays the necessity of unit and remain united in all things that we do. One of the customs that we keep is that you can go to visit anybody without making appointments. And when you go wherever, find people eating you will certainly share with joy. This can be translated that we believe in unit all the time. We remain united and that is why you can visit people without appointments and you will not be rejected but received with great joy. This demonstrate to us that unit is quite fundamental in the life of human being. Our Co-founders lived the life of unit throughout their life, till when God called them. The way they were united left behind an indelible example to imitate.
In the church from the very beginning when the Apostles faced some challenges about some issues which they could destroy the unit they immediately called for the meeting. They convoked the council and discussed the matters at length to solve the problem. God blessed them and they were able to maintain the unit of the believers. Apostles paid attention to the unit of the believers and they decided to take action in order to bring people back. What they did it is what all the believes in all generations need to follow in order to preserve the unit of the people of God. Unit comes from above and it is our duty and responsibility that we are to teach and to protect unit. It is what our Co-founders maintained all the time to follow the ways of the Lord Jesus. When members remain in unit then people will be stirred to come to the Lord.
Unit is a great treasure when it is well kept following the will of God. Where there is unity all the time there is strength and grace. Unit is a gift that comes from God. When we are united as the believers of the Lord then many things will go in a right way without any trouble. Let us remember the promise of Jesus as he stated that “where two or more gathered in my name I am in their midst” (Math 10: 18) This confirms deeply that unit is a gift from God. If Jesus will be among them means God likes unit among the believers. Even when he sent the disciples, he sent them two by two and not one person. He did so to indicate and illustrate to them the importance of unit. Also, a great reminder that unit is a gift of the Holy Spirit when we keep and observe according to his will. Jesus all the time validated the need of unit with others and no solitary life only. Jesus elected the twelve to receive special mission and to keep unit of the believers. He started the unity of the believers so that they may be able to proclaim extensively his mission, support each other and protect the faith together. Wherever there is unit no doubt that there is extraordinary strength.
Jesus appointed Peter to be the head of all the believers in order to unite all of them and he became the source of unity of the Church as its head. Peter has been and will continue to be a strong uniting factor of the believers of the Lord. When people are united, they bring in their gifts of the Holy Spirit together at the service of the Church, to build the Kingdom of God. When the gifts of the Holy Spirit will be used for his will then we shall bear great fruits and no doubt about it. Though the Spirit is one but with variety of gifts from the same Spirit for the purpose of building of the Kingdom of God. We are all the members to keep unit and to proclaim unit because unit is a precious gift of the Holy Spirit to all the members of the Body of Christ. When believers are able to keep it according to the will of God then they will certainly produce many fruits in the work of evangelization.
Jesus prayer for the believers and mentioned clearly to be united and to remain one. The prayer of Jesus is classical for the spiritual growth towards the Kingdom of God. Jesus prayed for the believer and all those who will come to believe in the Lord. Jesus wants them all the time to continue united with God and then to each other. Jesus knows that when they will remain united with God and with one another, they will have much strength and power to protect the faith and inspire many people. Unit come from God and it is upon us to make sure we promote unit by all possible means. When we are united means God is with us and he will continue to inspire us and bless us all the time. Whenever people are united, they will manage to accomplish great things in life. Our Co-founders of our institute of the Apostles of Jesus knew this wisdom and that is why all the time they repeated to the members to be united together. When any problem could come, immediately, they could start talking about unit of the all the members.
All the popes, the successors of Peter, worked hard to unite the people of God. Usually they write many apostolic letters, exhortations, and encyclicals with the purpose of strengthening the unity of the People of God. Jesus left us united and he want us all the time to stay united with Him first then united with one another here on earth eventually in heaven. Many of the letters brings us the sense of uniting and deepening our faith as the people of God. For instance, Pope St John Paul the second wrote encyclicals called UT UNUM SINT, On commitment to ecumenism. Pope St John Paul II wrote this encyclical with the purpose of remind and uniting all the believers of the Lord to be united together to build the kingdom of God he inaugurated here on earth. Likewise, Pope Francis wanted so much to unite all the Christian together and the people of God. He wrote the ecumenical letter regarding the unit of the believers. He wants to bring all the churches together as the children of God. Recently, Pope Leo XIV wrote the Apostolic Letter: IN UNITATE FIDEI (In the Unity of Faith) on the occasion of the 1700th Anniversary of the Council of Nicea. Unit is the essential element of the people of God. Our Co-founders reflected deeply on unity and demonstrate by their exemplary life till death. They are even buried close to each other the same chapel of the Apostles of Jesus.
In the world, we have (United Nations). The main purpose of this great organization is to bring people together. Their intention is to foster unit among all the nations here earth. This was founded after the second world war which made many people today are members. The intention of UN is bringing all the living human being together in proper understanding and respecting one another. The leaders travel from one nation to another in order to meet people to talk about unit and stick together here on earth. Wherever there is unit, there no war because when people are united, they will not talk about fighting but staying together and cooperating together. Also, under UN there are other organizations which all the time try to bring people together in proper understanding. In this regard, brings the understanding the essential component of unit of the people of God. Unit is the great paragon that people can achieved. Our Co-founder promoted unit all the time of the believers of the Lord and all the members. By remaining united means, we are living the life inspired by heaven.
In concluding, I would like to emphasize about understanding the prerequisites of life in particular unit of the People of God. Unit illustrates the grace of God given to the believers and they use it well to glorify the Lord by serving one another. This is very important for the members of our Institute wherever you are. Unit brings strength but division bring weakness and even hostility in one way or another. Also, division does not come from God but come from the creatures for their personal interests. It is good all the time for the members to keep on praying for unit so that we may ever remain united as Jesus prayed for the believers to be united. “Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are” (John 17: 11).
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By Rev Fr Francis Njau, AJ
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