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Klaus Hemmerle and His Passion for Unity

Feb 13, 2014

A brief but intense thought in which the bishop of Aachen, Germany, who died twenty years ago, strongly underscores his passion for unity, living in communion among living cells

«I know that I’m not able to live alone, but only with Jesus in our midst. I strive to be part of a living cell, to be linked with other people with whom I can talk about such a way of living. I’d like to reach someone by phone, at least once a day, with whom I can feel understood regarding my life, someone who understands me so deeply that it takes no more than five minutes to know how things are going. If this isn’t possible at times, then I live the spiritual communion which is still something very valuable. I strive to weave a concrete network of relationships and to be an active part of them.

The Bishop Hemmerle with Chiara Lubich

This living in communion never ends in itself, but makes the passion for unity grow and the impulse to create communion wherever I go. I’ll never be at peace until the diocese, the parish and every other reality become a network made of these living cells with the living Lord in their midst. Thus the fundamental actions of my daily life, living the Word, the conscious and longed-for encounter with the Crucified Lord, praying and living in the communion of living cells with Jesus in our midst, these are the things that make me understand more and more one fundamental fact: I never live my life alone, I’m not the soloist saviour of the others, but I am a person who lives with the Other and for the Other; that is, turned towards the Father and turned towards the others; communio and reciprocity. Three basic directions that depart from Christ Crucified: towards the Father; towards the world; towards communion». Wilfried Hagemann, “Klaus Hemmerle, innamorato della Parola di Dio”, Città Nuova Ed., p. 233.

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