Hey, everybody. Welcome to you. We're born for this podcast with Father John Ricardo. That's me. I'm Father John. I am the

executive director at Acts 29, where we talk about anything and everything having to do with transformation in the church.

I'm here, as always with my partner in mission. Mary Guilfoyle, Mary, happy day after the Feast of Divine Mercy.

How are you? I'm doing great and continued Easter blessings to

you, Father John. Amen. Jesus has risen. He is risen indeed, huh? So what do we got for a title?

So our conversation today is called Striving to Maintain Unity. Hmm, nothing to work on there for

most of us, huh? Yeah, we should probably pray on this one, shall we?

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Father, in these great days, these days in which we continue to, in a leisurely fashion, linger

over your son's resurrection and eagerly awaiting the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that

we're about to celebrate in Pentecost, we do ask that you would continue to bring healing

to the body of Christ, which is the church. Lord, we ask that you would bring about in our day, even today, evermore,

what it is that your son prayed fervently for the night before he went to the cross

when he prayed that all those who believe in him would be one, so that the world might believe that you sent him,

and so that the world might know that you love them, even as you love him.

Lord, we ask that you would hear our sorrowful lament

for the countless ways in which we have been instruments and agents of division

and not of healing and not of unity.

Lord, we just pray that you, as only you can, would make us one.

And in becoming evermore one, that you would use us to draw others to yourself

through your son by the power of your spirit. And we ask all this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.

The name of the Father John, thank you for that prayer. That is an anointed, beautiful word for us today.

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