I have decided to no longer blog on a Sunday, but felt I may as well back date this because it is a reflection on the 3rd Sunday after Epiphany which falls within the week of prayer for Christian unity. I have many thoughts on the topic of ecumenism and religious dialogue, with most of them not being particularly 'with the times' and perhaps somewhat cynical. However, I wanted to share with you some points from an inspiring homily by Fr. Paul Chavasse, who had already preached at two morning Masses before he said Mass for us in the Tridentine Rite!The Gospel today from the old lectionary is particularly useful to meditate upon for this subject:
And when he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him: And behold a leper came and adored him, saying: Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus stretching forth his hand, touched him, saying: I will, be thou made clean. And forthwith his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus saith to him: See thou tell no man: but go, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift which Moses commanded for a testimony unto them. And when he had entered into Capharnaum, there came to him a centurion, beseeching him,
And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, and is grieviously tormented. And Jesus saith to him: I will come and heal him. And the centurion making answer, said: Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldst enter under my roof: but only say the word, and my servant shall be healed. For I also am a man subject to authority, having under me soldiers; and I say to this, Go, and he goeth, and to another, Come, and he cometh, and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. And Jesus hearing this, marvelled; and said to them that followed him: Amen I say to you, I have not found so great faith in Israel.
And I say to you that many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven: But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into the exterior darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said to the centurion: Go, and as thou hast believed, so be it done to thee. And the servant was healed at the same hour.
It is an important lesson for us with regards to Christian unity because it reminds us that God works wherever He will: sometimes outside the normal visible boundaries we consider. This means, in our time, that many people are worked upon with prevenient grace, and orientated towards the Holy Catholic Church. Quite often, it is clearly evident how much other christian denominations have: a committment to Jesus' moral teaching, an ardent love of Christ, and a reliance on divine providence. It is important for us Catholics not to scorn what is good in separated communities, but to acknowledge the truth they possess. But also to show them how much they lack, and what fullness of Faith they could possess in the Catholic Faith; nourished by the Sacraments and benefiting from the full embodiment of Christian teaching.
Fr. Paul used the inspiring example of Edith Stein (now canonised Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross), Virgin and Martyr, having died in the gas chamber during the holocaust in 1941. Having visited Cally's Kitchen countless times, I was beginning to wonder who she was!I wish I could say the same for my poor little Collins Missal!
God works where He will, and it is therefore up to Catholics not to hide their Faith from others, but to share it and let others know the blessed hope we live with. As St. Paul reminds us in today's Epistle, this includes even our enemies:
Be not wise in your own conceits. To no man rendereth evil for evil: providing good things not only in the sight of all men... if thy enemy be hungry, give him to eat: if he thirst, give him to drink: for doing this, thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head[!]
So, in all things Charity! Something I will strive to remember rather than falling temptation to pride. I will conclude by recounting the words of Pope Benedict XVI:
We cannot have Jesus without the reality He created and in which He communicates Himself. Between the Son of God-made-flesh and His Church there is a profound, unbreakable and mysterious continuity by which Christ is present today to His people - built on a foundation of the apostles and alive in the succession of the apostles.
Matt, my thoughts on the attempts by some in the hierarchy of the Catholic Church to promote Christian unity are not particularly with the times either, to put it mildly and charitably as you have. =)
ReplyDeleteFor me, the issue is simple. Is the Catholic Church the One Church founded by the Lord Jesus Christ?
The Vatican II Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium has this to say:
This is the one Church of Christ which in the Creed is professed as one, holy, catholic and apostolic, which our Saviour, after His Resurrection, commissioned Peter to shepherd, and him and the other apostles to extend and direct with authority, which He erected for all ages as "the pillar and mainstay of the truth". This Church constituted and organized in the world as a society, subsists in the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the Bishops in communion with him, although many elements of sanctification and of truth are found outside of its visible structure.
God alone knows how much grief and confusion the unfortunate choice of subsists in has brought to the Church. And elements of sanctification do not a Church make.
As St. Cyprian of Carthage said, you can't have God as your Father if you don't have the Church as you Mother. Extra ecclesiam nulla salus!.
So, back to my point. I'm a pretty simple minded guy. So the question in simple terms for me is this. Is the Catholic Church the One Church founded by Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ? If yes, then all men must be called to come into Her, the Ark of Salvation.
Why cling to little boats and be tossed about by every wind of doctrine when one can come into the Barque of Peter and be steered into the Harbour of Heaven?
But is the Catholic Church is not the Church founded by Our Lord Jesus Christ, then why are these hierarchs in Her? Should we not be looking high and low for this pearl of great price?
If we believe that the Catholic Church be the One True Church founded by her Lord, then the ecumenism of return is the only way, as distasteful as it might seem to our politically sensitive ears. But if Truth is what we want to pursue, then that's the only way. All, Orthodox, Non-Chalcedonian, Protestant(Anglican's inclusive), pagans, heathens, agnostics and atheists, without exception, must be called into union with her, for the salvation of their won souls.
Why must we sacrifice the truth, painful as it might be for these people to hear it, for the sake pleasing their ears when hearing the truth(though perhaps articulated a little more charitably than here =)) could save their souls? The salvation of souls is the prime goal and highest good of the Church. If we forget this, then we'd better close the shop down.
I completely agree, and hold to the ecumenism of return. If I did not make that clear enough, I apologise.
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