The Pope of Christian Unity Connects New Evangelization and Healing the Divisions in the Body of Christ. Do We

11/16/2012

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that duty with prophetic courage. His teaching Magisterium is characterized by orthodoxy (right teaching) and orthopraxy (right practice). It is also characterized by a recovery of the legitimate diversity of expression within the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.

Into a world that is fractured, divided, wounded, filled with "sides" and "camps" at enmity with one another, the Church is called to proclaim, by both word and deed, the unifying love of a living God. The heart of the "Gospel" is the message that in and through Jesus Christ, authentic unity with God - and through Him, in the Spirit, with one another- is not only possible but is the plan of God for the entire human race.

The Church is the way. It was not the Lord's plan that she be divided. It is His Plan that she be restored to full communion. Let us take our lead, as these historic events unfold, from the clear teaching of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. These paragraphs are in the section entitled "Wounds to Unity":

"817 In fact, "in this one and only Church of God from its very beginnings there arose certain rifts, which the Apostle strongly censures as damnable. But in subsequent centuries much more serious dissensions appeared and large communities became separated from full communion with the Catholic Church - for which, often enough, men of both sides were to blame."

"The ruptures that wound the unity of Christ's Body - here we must distinguish heresy, apostasy, and schism - do not occur without human sin: Where there are sins, there are also divisions, schisms, heresies, and disputes. Where there is virtue, however, there also are harmony and unity, from which arise the one heart and one soul of all believers.

818 "However, one cannot charge with the sin of the separation those who at present are born into these communities [that resulted from such separation] and in them are brought up in the faith of Christ, and the Catholic Church accepts them with respect and affection as brothers . . . .
"All who have been justified by faith in Baptism are incorporated into Christ; they therefore have a right to be called Christians, and with good reason are accepted as brothers in the Lord by the children of the Catholic Church."

819 "Furthermore, many elements of sanctification and of truth" are found outside the visible confines of the Catholic Church: "the written Word of God; the life of grace; faith, hope, and charity, with the other interior gifts of the Holy Spirit, as well as visible elements."

"Christ's Spirit uses these Churches and ecclesial communities as means of salvation, whose power derives from the fullness of grace and truth that Christ has entrusted to the Catholic Church. All these blessings come from Christ and lead to him, and are in themselves calls to "Catholic unity."

820 "Christ bestowed unity on his Church from the beginning. This unity, we believe, subsists in the Catholic Church as something she can never lose, and we hope that it will continue to increase until the end of time." Christ always gives his Church the gift of unity, but the Church must always pray and work to maintain, reinforce, and perfect the unity that Christ wills for her.

"This is why Jesus himself prayed at the hour of his Passion, and does not cease praying to his Father, for the unity of his disciples: "That they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be one in us, so that the world may know that you have sent me." The desire to recover the unity of all Christians is a gift of Christ and a call of the Holy Spirit."

May the prayer of Jesus, "May they be One" become our prayer - and the mission of the whole Church. The Pope of Christian Unity connects the New Evangelization and the healing of the divisions in the Body of Christ. Do We?

- - -

Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: Unity, ecumenism, Pope of Christian unity, New Evangelization, communion, Pope Benedict XVI, John 17, Deacon Keith Fournier

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1 - 4 of 4 Comments

Paul-Emile Leray
7 months ago
Very nice. I once asked an American Jesuit (wonderful man) what one sign of being on the right path was and his quiet reply was: harmony. For peace, unity, joy, harmony is important. I will expound, though. It is possible to feel harmonious on some levels and yet not be on the right path. How? Ignorance. If the script is wrong, yet we believe it is right and everyone around us believes it is right, there might be illusions of harmony present even if the ship is way off course. Let me further explain with the following from Abraham Maslow: the normal adjustment of the average, common-sense, well-adjusted implies a continued sucessful rejection of much of the depths of human nature.

Therefore, on some levels the biggest cult of all, it has been said, is what? Culture. What if the culture is half insane? What if the culture is sick? Then the media risks being off track. The politics and laws risk being off track. What I am getting at is that I am very grateful for the Catholic Church and their leaders. Their theologians, their philosophers, and so forth are a blessing. If the culture at large is crazy, then being ostracized and ridiculed is a sign of sanity. (which explains, in part, why so many martyrs existed and continue to do so)

Paul-Emile Leray
Tom McGuire
7 months ago
Bishop Luis Antonio Tagle shared this story in his book, Easter People, Orbis Books, 2005. It speaks to much of what Pope Benedict XVI and Deacon Keith Fournier are saying. His story awakens an emotion in me about where I am. I hope it does the same for all who read it.

“Before returning to the Philippines after studying in the United States, I met a Chinese student from the People’s Republic of China, where he was a student of sociology and economics. He was in Washington, D.C., to attend a conference. While he was at The Catholic University, the Tiananmen Square Massacre happened and he decided not to go home. He found a way for his wife to join him, and they stayed in Washington where he continued his studies. Despite being a non-believer who grew up without belonging to any religion, he was very interested in religions, especially Christianity. When he heard I was going back to the Philippines, he invited me to meet his wife and have sup- per with them.

He mentioned that he was enjoying his stay at the university and I asked if he was learning anything about religion and Christianity. “What is your impression of our faith, our religion?” “You know, your Bible is the most beautiful book I have ever read,” he said. “How about the Christian approach to life? Have you had a chance to reflect on it?” “Yes,” he said, “I have taken courses in Christian ethics, Christian doctrine, and history of Christian dogma.” Then he said, “I think Christianity has solutions to all the problems of the world. If Christianity could only be lived out, all the problems that I see in China could be solved.” And so I asked, “Are you a believer now?” His response was, “Not yet. My mind understands and my mind has decided that what I understand is true; but I still cannot say, ‘I believe.’”

I found this Chinese student to be very, very wise. To make the jump from “This is true” to “I believe” is not just a matter of explication. There are many truths that we see, but to be able to say, “I believe” needs grace. I have a feeling that he already believes. I can- not believe that grace is absent. What else is missing for him to be able to say in grace, “I believe”?
Before we parted I told him, “Should you reach a point when you can say, ‘I believe,’ I hope you won’t forget the Catholic tradition.” He had mentioned that he also studied the Protestant tradition. “Oh, yes. I appreciate the many different traditions. Your Catholic tradition is much fuller,” he said, adding, “but after two years here at Catholic University, my only heartache is that no Catholic priest, sister, or student has approached me to teach me about the Word of God. Every Friday the Baptists come to my house and invite me to learn about their religion. You Catholics are very, very weak in evangelism.” As he said this I felt like a culprit. I realized that he was searching for a community that would share its faith, its memory with him. And somehow we failed him. A non-believer who spoke beautifully about the Word of God and the Catholic tradition was making me realize how my indifference, inaction, and sin of omission, in other words my failure to forge community with him, were turning me into an enemy of the Christian faith. Forgetfulness hindered me from actively building bridges of communion with him.

I still remember one of my professors saying that there is an unbeliever within every believer and that we need to constantly dialogue with, evangelize, and convert that part of us. Our belief in the resurrection rests in our acceptance of the cross of Jesus’ love. The more we distance ourselves from the cross and push it to forgetfulness, the more the resurrection becomes a distant reality in our lives. Only by carrying the cross of the victims of history and society in love do we become agents of hope in society.”
Jeremiah
7 months ago
This is my Confirmation name.

I remember my childhood when I often was discussing with my dad about various topics. Although sometimes we were arguing very hard, I know that now he prays for me in the Heaven, and I pray for him here.

The unity is not when you put together two cubes, because they will remain two separate cubes.

When Apostle John mentioned the Seven Churches, did he address different churches?

If the "differences" were and are the fruit of devil's work, they will vanish and will be merely forgotten as if they never existed. If they remain, and after the "administrative" kisses they surely will remain, it means that there is something that blows them up and this "something" may find it (new administrative arrangements) quite comfortable to hide in (in this new den).

This is my position of an ignorant and humble man.

In Christ,
abey
7 months ago
The unity is in the diversity of The Faith, not the diversity of faiths & this Faith is to the Perfect Unity of the Father, Son & Holy Spirit of three persons but of the same substance to one God. It is only by this unity comes our unity through the Person of the Son Christ Jesus who being the express Image of God & on whose Image & Likeness is man created. To understand this unity better we need to understand as to what is disunity in the beliefs, like the three headed God of Hinduism where the stories about the relationship between the three is abound with total strife & supremacy of one over the other even unto adverse sexual corruptions to the point of no return cause it was so in their very beginnings. Beliefs project the truth & to this is the belief in Christ to perfect unity as it was in the beginning, always been.

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