Our Hunger for Unity

All human beings want unity and desire it from the bottom of their hearts. The need for unity is a hunger for the fullness of being. There is a need for unity at the heart not only of marriage, in which two people unite themselves to become one flesh, but also, in a different way, at the heart of the quest for material goods and new knowledge.

Why, then, is it so difficult to achieve unity, if everyone desires it so much? It is because we want unity, of course, but ... unity around our point of view. Our view seems so obvious, so reasonable, that we are astounded that others do not agree and instead insist on their point of view. We even carefully lay out the path for others to come where we are and join us. The problem is that the person in front of me is doing exactly the same thing to me. No unity will ever be achieved if we go about it this way; unity takes the opposite path.

Contemplating the Trinity: The Path to Abundant Christian Life by Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa