Feast of St Josaphat: Time For Full Communion Between Orthodox and Catholic Christians

The two lungs of Christ's Church must breathe together again in the Third Millennium as they did in the First Millennium. That breath is the breath of the Holy Spirit. That breath will fuel a new missionary age of the Church.

On November 12, the Catholic Church celebrated the Feast of St Josaphat, an Eastern or Byzantine Catholic Bishop (1580 - 1623) who in life - and in death - poured himself out in imitation of Jesus Christ so that the Church would once again be one. Over the years, Josaphat has been referred to in some sources as the "thief of souls". Sadly, his heroic efforts have been misunderstood and misused by some to further the very division between the Orthodox and Catholic Churches which he gave his life to heal. I propose that heroic man was - in fact - doing battle against one of the greatest enemies of Christ and His Church, the divisions between Eastern and Western Christianity. The full communion of the One Church, with all of its rich and legitimate diversity within theological orthodoxy (right doctrine) and orthopraxy (right practice), could unleash the most powerful spiritual renewal in recent Church history and shake the very gates of Hell.

CHESAPEAKE, VA (Catholic Online) - On November 12, the Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of St Josaphat, an Eastern or Byzantine Catholic Bishop (1580 - 1623) who in life - and in death - poured himself out in imitation of Jesus Christ so that the Church would once again be one.

Over the years, Josaphat has been referred to in some sources as the "thief of souls". Sadly, his heroic efforts have been misunderstood and misused by some to further the very division between the Orthodox and Catholic Churches which he gave his life to heal.

I propose that heroic man was - in fact - doing battle against one of the greatest enemies of Christ and His Church, the divisions between Eastern and Western Christianity.

The full communion of the One Church, with all of its rich and legitimate diversity within theological orthodoxy (right doctrine) and orthopraxy (right practice), could unleash the most powerful spiritual renewal in recent Church history and shake the very gates of Hell.

I must lay all my cards on the table as I write this morning. I long for the full communion of the Orthodox and Catholic Churches.  I pray daily for the full communion of the Orthodox and Catholic Churches. I do so because I believe it is the will of God that "All May be One" (John 17: 21). 

I believe that the healing of the division between what we properly call in Catholic theology, the two sister churches, Orthodox and Catholic, would unleash a profound renewal of the entire Church - at the dawn of a new missionary age.

I believe that the gifts found in the whole Church would enrich both East and West, assisting us in the mission which we must face together in our One Lord.

I long for this full communion because I am convinced that, as the West implodes under the fierce ravages of what Pope Benedict XVI properly called a "Dictatorship of Relativism", it is only the true humanism found in the fullness of truth as revealed in Jesus Christ and His Body, the Church, which can save the West - as well as the East - from rushing over a cliff to its own demise.

I long for this full communion because, as a revert to the Catholic Church, one who returned to my Catholic faith as a young man, I walked the way home by way of the early Church Fathers. Had I not had been baptized a Catholic of the Latin Rite; I might have become an Eastern Christian.

As the decades of my life have unfolded in continuing theological studies and ordination to the Order of Deacon in the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, my vision and theological viewpoint are still profoundly Eastern.

So too is my worship. I have long prayed with icons and love the Divine Liturgy. However, I cherish the unity that comes with giving a primacy of recognition and honor to the Successor of the Apostle Peter.

Let me also be clear, I am deeply and happily ensconced in the Roman Catholic Church. I am glad that I have authorization to serve the Divine Liturgy of the Eastern Catholic or Byzantine Church. For a number of years I had the privilege of regularly serving the Divine Liturgy of the Melkite Byzantine Catholic Church.

I miss participating in that beautiful Liturgy. I love the Liturgy, both East and West. However I find the depth of the Mystery which is Liturgy is beautifully captured in the Divine Liturgy of the East. Many Catholics do not even know it exists.

Orthodox Christians and Eastern Catholic Christians celebrate the same Divine Liturgy.

One can literally "get lost" in the Eastern Christian Liturgy. It can become an experience of the heavenly liturgy.I encourage all of my Roman Catholic readers who have never participated in a Divine Liturgy of the Eastern Church, do so. 

There is a Latin maxim that addresses the centrality of worship in the life, identity and mission of the whole Church; "Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi, Lex Vivendi". It means that the law of prayer or worship is the law of belief and the law of life. Or, even more popularly rendered, as we worship, so will we believe and live! 

Worship is not an "add on" for a Catholic or an Orthodox Christian. It is the foundation of Catholic and Orthodox identity; expressing our highest purpose. Worship reveals how we view ourselves in relationship to God, one another and the world into which we are sent to carry forward the redemptive mission of Jesus Christ.

How the Church worships is a prophetic witness to the truth of what she professes. Good worship becomes a dynamic means of drawing the entire human community into the fullness of life in Jesus Christ, lived out in the communion of the Church.

It attracts - through beauty to Beauty. Worship informs and transforms both the person and the community which participates in it. There is reciprocity between worship and life.

Finally, I long for the coming full communion of East and West because my oldest son is an Orthodox Christian. He, his wife and their children are all practicing Orthodox Christians. I must admit that the more I visit them these days the more I appreciate the beauty of the interweaving of faith and life which comes with Eastern Christianity and its practices.

Yet, I experience something else during these visits. As I participate in his family life, the more painful our separation at the Altar also becomes. I believe it gives me a glimpse, perhaps a participation, in the very heart of the Lord who longs for our unity and weeps over our division as He wept over Jerusalem of old.

So, I watch for every sign that the two lungs of the One Church are beginning to fill with the one breath of Divine Life, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit alone can animate the One New Man, Jesus Christ, to heal the division which has gone on for too long in His Body.

All Nations need the dynamic witness of the Church in an age which has lost its moral compass. In the ancient words of an anonymous Christian to a pagan inquirer to the faith named Diognetus,
 "the Christian is to the world what the soul is to the body."

The fact that the Nations of this age have lost their soul is obvious to any observer. The only real question to be asked is whether Christians will rise to the invitation to resuscitate it with the unified witness of the new world of the Church.That Church is meant to be one.

Some say I see these developments with what they would call Rose Colored glasses. If I do see through the color of rose, it is because the color symbolizes the hope which comes from faith in the Resurrection of Christ Jesus. It is also because of my bedrock conviction concerning the Lord's plan for His One Church. (John 17:21)

I propose that this Eastern Christian Saint of the Catholic Church - rather than continuing to be a cause for our division - come to inspire our efforts to hasten the inevitable -  and absolutely essential - full communion between the Orthodox and Catholic Churches. 

After all, that is what Josaphat gave his life for. He was not a thief , he was a liberator, seeking to bring the divided Church together so that she can plunder the gates of hell itself and win back the whole world for Jesus Christ.   

There is a growing recognition that there is more that joins theologically faithful Catholics and theologically faithful Orthodox than that which separates us. The cultural decline of our age certainly compels our collaboration in Christ. It is leading us to a growing mutual respect which can help to pave the way toward some form of restored communion.

This is an essential task which must be taken up by both Western and Eastern Christians without triumphalism of any kind. In the history of our division there is plenty of room for repentance all around. The real question is whether time will be become a tutor or remain a tyrant. Good theologians and truly holy Church leaders can hasten our full communion. It is time.  

Together, Orthodox and Catholic Christians face the effects of moral relativism, secularism and the growing hostility toward Christianity which characterizes this age. What will stem the tide of the Third Millennial descent into godless ideologies of every sort and turn the world toward Jesus Christ and His Church? Full communion between Eastern and Western Christianity!

The two lungs of Christ's Church must breathe together again in the Third Millennium as they did in the First Millennium. That breath is the breath of the Holy Spirit. That breath will fuel a new missionary age of the Church.

----

Deacon Keith A. Fournier is a married Roman Catholic Deacon of the Diocese of Richmond, Virginia. Virginia, he and his wife Laurine have five grown children and seven grandchildren, He is also a human rights lawyer and public policy advocate. He has long been active at the intersection of faith, values and culture.

---

'Help Give every Student and Teacher FREE resources for a world-class Moral Catholic Education'

Copyright 2021 - Distributed by Catholic Online