What can we find that unites us? Now more than ever.

It was quite a week. Saturday evening after Mass at home, I was on the road north to an overnight at St. Francis Solanus in Quincy to assist at two Masses there Sunday morning just before picking up one of our sons at a volleyball camp at Culver Stockton College. It was on that drive that I heard about the attempted assassination of former President Trump via text message from Suzanne.

For me, as for the rest of us, that moment led to a week of seeing the signs of the frightening division in our society.

Still, I was blessed with two experiences that gave me the grace of seeing the Unity that’s also present in our society.

Unity in Baseball: the MLB All Star Game

As each of our boys has graduated 8th grade, I’ve taken them on a father-son trip. Our oldest and I spent a few days on Broadway. Our second oldest and I took several trips to taekwondo competitions over a summer, and then a road trip to Colorado.

Our third oldest asked about going to the All Star Game in Arlington, Texas last week, so that became our trip.

We had a blast! I would definitely try to find a way to another All Star Game in the future.

We ran into a family from church who talked about how they head to All Star Week every week as a family vacation. They usually take in All Star Village (which is a festival/convention of baseball fandom activities, history displays, cultural displays, and sponsor exhibits) and often some combination of the Home Run Derby or warmup night, all of which comes in at much less expensive than the big game itself.

One of the most striking aspects of the experience, though, was how baseball fans overcome their love of their teams for their love of the game.

It was fun walking around all day seeing so many smiling faces of different people wearing different teams’ and players’ jerseys.

Occasionally, someone would strike up a conversation about still holding a grudge for a certain year when the Cardinals knocked their team out of the playoffs, or in the World Series. But every one of those conversations would end with a laugh, a small, a handshake, and a mutual acknowledgement of mutual love of the game.

As Drew Shaw & Ryan Thorpe wrote in an article for Arlington Report, “On a typical game day in Arlington, Globe Life Field is colored in two tones: Texas Rangers blue and red. Tuesday was far from a typical game day. Baseball fans wearing Rangers jerseys walked side-by-side with the Washington Nationals red, Houston Astros orange, New York Yankees navy and Pittsburgh Pirates yellow – all brought together from across the country for the 94th MLB All-Star Game.”

That was definitely my experience, and part of what made it such a great trip: Despite what could be so many differences, a shared love of a game brings friendship, mutual respect, and unity.

Unity in Jesus: the National Eucharistic Congress

As soon as Joseph and I got home from Dallas-Fort Worth/Arlington on Wednesday, I hit the road east to Indianapolis for a few days at the National Eucharistic Congress.

As soon as I walked into the Congress on Thursday, the thing that struck me the most continued through my time there:

It was the biggest, most diverse gathering of the Church in the USA that I’ve ever seen.

50,000+ Catholics from all over the nation (and the world), gathered in one place – and it was a completely even mix of all ages, all races, clergy, religious, and lay. Walking around the corridors and common areas, one could hear many languages and see everything from the most elderly slowly making their way with the help of walkers to young couples pushing multiple children in multiple strollers.

It was true “unity in diversity” on display. It was the Church!

I love the way that Ed Condon said it on The Pillar Podcast live from Thursday night at the Congress. He said:

“I can’t think of anywhere else in the country right now where you can get whatever tonight tallied, 25,000, 30,000, 35,000 people who are all in one place at one time for a particular purpose, and it’s not versus something. That it’s not adversarial. That it’s not pitched as, ‘We’re here to stick it to those others.’ That it was an exercise, it was a palpable atmosphere of communion, and that is something that we really, intensely lack more broadly right now in the world, in the country, etc., etc., etc. There are plenty of conferences and other things going on now and in subsequent weeks, and they are directly pitched as, well, “Our people hate the right people.” And here, our people hate no one. And that’s the most powerful sign that the Church can give in the world right now.” (Emphasis mine; quote starts at approx. 3:27 into the podcast.)

That perfectly summarizes my experience of seeing the unity – the Communion – on display at the Congress.

And for that gift, this week in particular, I’m grateful.

From baseball to the Eucharist.

“Our people hate no one. And that’s the most powerful sign that the Church can give in the world right now.”

Unity. We need a renewed focus on what unites us. Now, it seems, more than ever.

And if you’ll pardon me, I need to go talk with my two sons who are fighting over the rules of air hockey over the game table downstairs.