"In You all find their home."

This morning, as I prayed the Liturgy of the Hours, I was, for some reason (the Holy Spirit, perhaps) struck by a verse of Psalm 87: "In You all find their home." As I meditated briefly on this verse I couldn't help but reflect on the Church's current efforts to evangelize in a world so intensely hostile to the Word and Love of God.

Rather than responding to this challenge with enthusiasm and hope, far too many Christians see the terrorism, the persecution, the wars, the immorality, and the polarization of our world and drift instead into a kind of apathetic despair. I hear it all the time from parishioners and others who see nothing but darkness in the world. They fail to recognize the signs of hope among God's people, signs that the Spirit is active in the hearts of many. And they apparently don't realize that, as disciples, we are called to trust in God, for only He can bring good out of such evil. But we are also called to be more than spectators. We are to carry out His work of evangelization, the work He commanded of His disciples:

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and, lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age" [Mt 28:19-20].

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations..."

The "age" has yet to close and there are far too many nations populated by folks who have never heard the Good News of Jesus Christ, and have certainly never been baptized. We still have a lot of work to do as we strive to help God achieve the unity Jesus prayed for the night before He died:

"I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me" [Jn 17:20-21].

Pope Benedict & Armenian Orthodox Patriarch Karenin

Jesus prays that the belief of the world, then, is conditional, that it may well depend on the unity of Christians, which explains why Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI devoted so much time and energy to the task of Christian unity. It is an especially difficult task, because true ecumenism must always be based on truth, a concept today's relativists eschew. There can be only one truth, not multiple versions of it, all disagreeing with one another. As St. Paul wrote to Timothy, "...you should know how to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth" [1 Tim 3:15]. Try talking objective truth to a relativist (and many call themselves Christian) and you will soon discover how difficult a task it is. Fortunately, it's God's Word and not our words that will ultimately bring about the unity Christ prayed for. We need only live Christ-centered lives ("...observe all that I have commanded you") and let the Holy Spirit speak God's Word through us.

Pope Benedict & Anglican Archbishop Williams

After my morning prayer I picked up the newspaper and read a brief item about a local Anglican community. I have written before about the Apostolic Constitution issued last year by Pope Benedict XVI that provides a path for Anglicans to return home to the Catholic Church. Contrary to what many have said, this action by the pope was not a unilateral action; rather it was a gracious response to a petition by the leaders of the Traditional Anglican Communion.


Tomorrow, right here in The Villages, our central Florida retirement community, one of those leaders will visit a local Anglican church, St. Luke's, and provide worshipers with an update on church unity efforts in the United States. In addition to addressing the community, Anglican Bishop Louis Campese will also celebrate Mass and confirm a member of the congregation. As Bishop Campese has said, this opportunity provided by the Catholic Church stresses unity and not absorption. In other words, these former Anglican communities, although they will be in communion with Rome, will maintain their integrity as worshiping communities and retain much of their liturgy and unique character.

St. Luke's Anglican Church is a fairly new mission effort and currently uses the facilities of New Covenant United Methodist Church. Interestingly, before New Covenant built their church, they conducted their services at our parish church, St. Vincent De Paul, back when we just a small mission church and had yet to become a parish.

Join Jesus in praying for true Christian unity.

Pax et bonum...


Posted using BlogPress from my iPad