Our sin of the continuing lack of unity among the apostolic churches is confirmed in the words of our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ and the “amen” found in the Church Fathers.
Jesus speaks in John 10:16 “And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; those also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.”
St. Augustine: “Let them all be in the one Shepherd [Christ] and speak with the one voice of the Shepherd, which the sheep may hear and follow their shepherd, not this or that shepherd but the one Shepherd. And in him let them all speak with one voice, not with conflicting voices.” Sermon 46.30
Born 354-430; bishop of Hippo, 396-430. Commemorated 15 June in the Eastern Orthodox Churches, 29 August by Roman Catholics.
Jesus speaks in John 10:27-30 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give to them eternal life, and they shall never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”
St. Cyprian: “He who breaks the peace and the concord of Christ, does so in opposition to Christ; he who gathers elsewhere than in the Church, scatters the Church of Christ. The Lord says, “I and the Father are one,” and again it is written of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, “And these three are one.” And does anyone believe that this unity, which thus comes from the divine strength and coheres in celestial sacraments, can be divided in the Church, and can be separated by the parting asunder of opposing wills? He who does not hold this unity does not hold God’s law, does not hold the faith of the Father and the Son, does not hold life and salvation.” Treatise I. On the Unity of the Church.
Born 200(?)- 258; Martyred bishop of Carthage, 248-258. Commemorated 31 August in the Eastern Orthodox Churches, 14 September by Roman Catholics.
Are we showing the love Jesus he asks of us through the keeping of his commandments? He commands us to oneness; we can pray and labor in showing love and working for reconciliation.
The First Thousand Years 