"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...


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Homily: Wednesday, 7th Week in Ordinary Time

Readings: Acts 20:28-38; Ps 68; Jn 17:11b-19

Let me tell you a few poorly kept secrets: First, it’s hard not being of the world while living in the world; it’s hard to be like Jesus Christ. Second, unity among Christians is no easier, because unity implies acceptance and obedience, two things we human beings really dislike. And third, few people, Christians included, want to hear the Truth, especially when it conflicts with what they want to do.

Indeed, all of these things -- being Christ-like, maintaining unity, and being consecrated in the truth – are not only hard, they’re flat-out impossible. Well, they’re humanly impossible. And yet, in today’s Gospel reading, Jesus prays for all three, because He knows it’s only through the active help of the Holy Spirit that we can turn these hopes of His into reality.

Let’s just look at one of these hopes: Jesus’ prayer for unity. He’s actually praying for a unity that transcends normal human relationships. Unity’s the main theme of His high priestly prayer at the Last Supper, a prayer that concludes with a petition for Christian unity among all who profess Jesus Christ as Lord. Jesus prays for all men and women who will follow Him as His disciples. And He prays, not just for the Apostles, but for all members of His Body the Church, that we’ll be one as He and the Father are one – in a unity of total love and obedience, a unity based on the strongest of personal relationships, the relationship that exists within the Trinity itself. And, of course, the prayer of Jesus bears fruit, for His prayer is always efficacious.

We see this throughout the Acts of the Apostles, how the disciples, despite divergent opinions, ultimately come together as one, united in their faith and their teaching. The Holy Spirit is the great consensus-maker. Indeed, the distinctive mark of Jesus’ disciples is their love and unity – a unity foretold in Psalm 133: “How good and pleasant it is when the brothers dwell in unity.”

Jesus’ prayer on the eve of His sacrifice shows the love and trust He extends to His friends. Although He knows they will abandon Him in His hour of greatest need, He still entrusts them with the seemingly impossible task of spreading his name throughout the world and to the end of time.  But He leaves His love to support them, and the Spirit to guide them.

Jesus loved us first. In Baptism we are united to Him and to each other; and so we are called to live in a unity of love. He wants no one to be lost. And so He entrust us with the same mission, to make Him known and loved by all. For it is only through unity in Him that the world knows Jesus was sent to redeem us all. This is why Christian disunity is such a scandal.

But Jesus' prayer is also a promise, a promise to be with us as we struggle to follow Him. He will not leave us alone. His gift of the Spirit is our constant help in times of sadness and suffering, of joy and triumph, and a reminder of the great love of Our Savior. Jesus’ prayer reminds us that we, too, must pray for unity, that we can love one another – a prayer as necessary today as it was then. Jesus knows unity is hard for us; it’s not easy to love each other as Christ loves us.

In His Sermon on the Mount He even tells us to love and pray for our enemies, something the world considers the height of folly. Can you imagine praying for the soul of Osama bin Laden? Well, yes, I can, because we’re asked to be different from the world. We’re asked to be like Jesus Himself. You see, the unity Jesus prays for is manifested by how we love and serve all of God's people, not just those who share our Catholic faith. When we exclude others from our lives and concerns, we work against Christian unity.

This doesn’t mean we must water down our Faith so that others, in their disbelief, might accept it. Not at all! Remember what I said earlier: achieving true unity is not humanly, but only divinely possible. And so we must pray and teach and preach God’s complete Word, and let the Holy Spirit bring others to Him and His one, holy, Catholic and apostolic Church. And we must do so in love.

Do we really love and accept all God’s people as our brothers and sisters in Christ? Do we treat everyone we encounter with the love that Christ extends to us? Or do we pick and choose? Today let’s pray that, like St Paul, God will give us the courage to speak the truth and to work for unity among all those whom the Father has given to his Son.

For it’s through us that His work will be done.

On the Path to Catholic-Orthdox Unity

On several occasions I've addressed the growing commitment among Catholic and Orthodox theologians to achieve unity after more than 1,000 years of separation. This ongoing effort seems to be picking up steam and I really believe we'll see some form of unity between our two churches in our lifetime.

The most recent step toward this unity was the latest session of the Joint Theological Commission for Dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox Churches. Held in Vienna last week the session reported substantial progress. In the words of one Orthodox metropolitan, "There are no clouds of mistrust between our two churches...If we continue like that, God will find a way to overcome all the difficulties that remain." The participants also emphasized that the two churches could well be on the way to becoming "sister churches" with each accepting the pope as its titular head. This is a remarkable step forward and it's especially heartening to hear such words coming from the representatives of both churches.

Catholic & Orthodox Participants at this Year's (the 12th) Session

This movement toward unity has also been strongly supported by Russian Orthodox Patriarch Krill and Pope Benedict XVI. The two are both focused on returning Europe to its Christian roots, something that would certainly be aided by Orthodox-Catholic unity. They are not alone in their support for this effort for many other Orthodox and Catholic bishops are equally supportive. For example, Orthodox Metropolitan John Zizioulis of Pergamon and Archbishop Kurt Koch held a joint news conference after the session at which they addressed the positive aspects of the recent session in Vienna. Click here to read some of their key comments. You might also want to read the commentary on the session by Deacon Keith Fournier.

Pray daily for the unity that Christ desires for His Church.

Pope Benedict XVI and Ecumenism

I don't believe it's an overstatement to say that Pope Benedict XVI has surpassed most of his predecessors, perhaps even his immediate predecessor, in his commitment to true ecumenism or, as he phrased it, his commitment "to rebuild the full and visible unity of all Christ's followers." Indeed, the Holy Father began his papacy with those very words when he delivered the first message of his pontificate to the College of Cardinals in the Sistine Chapel on April 20, 2005. Here's more of what he said on that day:

"With full awareness, therefore, at the beginning of his ministry in the Church of Rome which Peter bathed in his blood, Peter's current Successor takes on as his primary task the duty to work tirelessly to rebuild the full and visible unity of all Christ's followers. This is his ambition, his impelling duty. He is aware that good intentions do not suffice for this. Concrete gestures that enter hearts and stir consciences are essential, inspiring in everyone that inner conversion that is the prerequisite for all ecumenical progress.

"Theological dialogue is necessary; the investigation of the historical reasons for the decisions made in the past is also indispensable. But what is most urgently needed is that "purification of memory", so often recalled by John Paul II, which alone can dispose souls to accept the full truth of Christ. Each one of us must come before him, the supreme Judge of every living person, and render an account to him of all we have done or have failed to do to further the great good of the full and visible unity of all his disciples.

"The current Successor of Peter is allowing himself to be called in the first person by this requirement and is prepared to do everything in his power to promote the fundamental cause of ecumenism. Following the example of his Predecessors, he is fully determined to encourage every initiative that seems appropriate for promoting contacts and understanding with the representatives of the different Churches and Ecclesial Communities. Indeed, on this occasion he sends them his most cordial greeting in Christ, the one Lord of us all."

Since then Pope Benedict has certainly followed through on his commitment to ecumenism as his "primary task." The Catholic Church's relationship with the Orthodox Church hasn't been this cordial since the two separated a thousand years ago. His outreach to the Anglican Church, especially to those within that communion who believe their Church has abandoned its traditional teachings in both faith and morals, promises to bear remarkable fruit in the years to come. The pope's issuance of the Apostolic Constitution providing for Anglicans entering into full communion with the Church is a document well worth reading and a likely blueprint for the future embrace of other Christian communities.

And now, in a fascinating article by Deacon Keith Fournier, we read about a group of Lutherans -- the Anglo-Lutheran Catholic Church -- who are apparently in the process of petitioning the Vatican for acceptance into full communion with the Catholic Church. They may be only one small group within the entire Lutheran community, but it is the decisions of such small communities that often lead to similar decisions by other, larger groups.

I was only vaguely familiar with the Anglo-Lutheran Catholic Church (I can recall once joking that their name pretty much covered all the bases), but after visiting their website this morning I promise not to joke about them any more. They describe themselves as "an ecumenical, traditional, liturgical, episcopal denomination that bases its beliefs in Holy Scripture and the teaching of Christ and the apostles." And when I visited the page with the heading "Official Statements," I found links to a series of documents issued by the Catholic Church. Indeed, in its self-description, the Church states that it "accepts as confessional...the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and the documents and decrees of all Ecumenical Councils recognized by the Roman Catholic Church, and the Magisterium of the Catholic Church." Sounds to me like a denomination ready to come home.

This movement toward unity may be just one more small step forward, but it is also one more sign of the work of the Holy Spirit in bringing to reality the prayer of Jesus:

"I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me." [Jn 17:20-23]

What a marvelous sign to the world Christian unity would be! Let's make it not only a major part of our daily prayer, but also a part of our lives as we work and minister together in the world with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

God's peace...

Pope Benedict on Christian Unity

On January 25 Pope Benedict XVI, at a Vespers service closing a week of prayer for Christian unity, preached  about the need to be a "witness of the Risen Christ in accordance with the mandate he entrusted to his disciples..." Included in this mandate is Christ's constant call for unity among Christians. And yet today we are, in the Holy Father's words, plagued by "the contradiction posed by division among Christians. Indeed," Pope Benedict continued, "how can non-believers accept the Gospel proclamation if Christians, even if they all call on the same Christ, are divided among themselves?" A good question, and one that seems to be the centerpiece of Benedict's approach to Christian unity. 

The pope, of course, is correct. Lacking the unity that Christ called for, the Christian message is as fractured as the Christian community. How did Jesus put it? 

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

"...that the world may believe." And so Jesus tells the Apostles and us that it is only through Christian unity that worldwide conversion will ever take place. Is it any wonder that the urgency of responding to Christ's call for unity has been so strongly stressed during the pontificates of John Paul II and Benedict XVI? 

Benedict, who like his predecessor is a true ecumenist, does not minimize the obstacles to unity: "Unfortunately, the issues that separate us from each other are many, and we hope that they can be resolved through prayer and dialogue." He does not stop there, however, and encourages a united witness to the world based on those common elements of our shared faith: 

"There is, however, a core of the Christian message that we can all proclaim together: the fatherhood of God, the victory of Christ over sin and death with his Cross and Resurrection, and faith in the transforming action of the Spirit."

The pope also addressed the additional obstacle to evangelization posed by the growing hostility of many to Christianity, and the need to develop new means to spread Christ's message of hope in a world where despair is so prevalent: 

"In a world marked by religious indifference," he said, "and even by a growing aversion to the Christian faith, it is necessary to discover a new, intense method of evangelization, not only among the peoples who have never known the Gospel but also among those where Christianity has spread and is part of their history."

And lastly Pope Benedict called on all of us to work toward unity among Christians, always remembering that it is God who will ultimately bring our hopes to fruition.  

"Each one of us is called to make his or her contribution towards the completion of those steps that lead to full communion among the disciples of Christ, without ever forgetting that this unity is above all a gift from God to be constantly invoked."

How fitting the the Holy Father should preach this homily in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, the Roman church dedicated to the Apostle to the Gentiles, the disciple who did so much to bring Christian unity to the early Church.

For the complete text (in English) of Pope Benedict's homily, click here.

God's peace... 

Anglicans...and other Anglicans

Apparently some few folks in the UK, presumably some Anglicans, are very upset over the possibility that a number of their fellow believers may depart the Church of England and enter into full communion with the Catholic Church.

Fr. David Waller, the Anglo-Catholic Vicar of St. Saviour’s Parish in Walthamstow, UK, received a voice mail threatening him with physical violence should he and his parishioners make the move to Catholicism. On the same evening vandals also defaced the church building with a painted message declaring: "C of E -- No Pope".  Although Fr. Waller has not yet publicly declared that he will enter the Catholic Church, based on his comments, I'd say that such a move is likely. And neither does he seem to have been intimidated by threats or vandalism. Commenting on the threatening voice mail, Fr. Waller said, “The message was distorted – it sounded drunken and I don’t want to make too much of it." And neither do I. I mention it only to show that Anglicans can expect resistance to any positive response to this historic invitation by the Catholic Church. You can read about Fr. Waller here: Anglo-Catholic Vicar Threatened.

And then there's Rowan Williams, the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, who recently urged the Catholic church to overlook such issues as papal primacy and women clergy and focus instead on furthering the effort to achieve communion with the Anglican Church. The archbishop seems to think that, in the spirit of ecumenism, the Catholic Church can and should simply set aside any differences, even those it believes are grounded in divine law and part of the deposit of faith. I guess he thinks the Catholic Church can help God's law "evolve" so that it will better reflect the spirit of the times. I suspect the archbishop is starting to panic as he watches the Anglican Church self destruct. How very sad. Click here to read more.

...and the drama continues.

Pray for life and pray for unity.