A couple of weeks again, a Secrets and techniques of the Useless episode
sucked me in mid-program once I noticed they had been exploring the ruins of a basilica
considered the situation of the Council of Nicaea. It wasn’t, because it turned
out, however the episode was a reminder to me concerning the final result of that council.
The one which produced the Nicaean Creed, which, on any given Sunday, most
churchgoers recite. The one that claims “We consider in a single, holy, catholic, and
apostolic church.”
So, it begs the query: If all of us profess the identical creed,
why can we not worship collectively?
It’s a query burdened with difficult solutions, addressed
by theologians by means of ecumenical dialogue, from Greek and Latin roots that
imply “home” and “common.”
We must always not let the problem of the query overshadow
the hope for unity that burns eternally within the Physique of Christ, in response to
Jesus’ prayer for his disciples that “they could be one in order that the world could
consider” (see John 17.21).
If the first-century gospel author felt the necessity for such a
prayer, maybe we are able to notice that divisions within the Physique of Christ should not a
new phenomenon! Nor are the injuries they afflict mortal.
We’re within the midst of the worldwide observance of the Week of
Prayer for Christian Unity. For greater than 100 years, Jan 18-25 has been
noticed as such. It’s vital to be clear: specializing in Christian unity is
not an over-against proposition. The WPCU doesn’t place Christianity in opposition to
any faith, however serves as an annual touchstone for church buildings that acknowledge
one baptism in Christ to resume our dedication to seek out our method towards one
one other.
Whereas the Catholic Church has been energetic in planning and
selling this annual observance a minimum of because the Nineteen Sixties, in my expertise it
is uncommon to seek out Catholic communities tuned in to its significance. Particular person
Catholics, sure. However I don’t see a lot emphasis on it on the parochial stage. I
hope I’m simply poorly knowledgeable.
The excellent news is, there’s little or no holding us again from
that unity. We are able to every begin. Proper now.
This was introduced residence to me throughout a dialog with Dr.
Jon Nilson for my congregation’s month-to-month podcast, F.L.O.W.forged. (Shameless
plug: the episode drops on Jan. 23 and may be discovered wherever you get your
podcasts by looking out @flowcastlisten.) A veteran of ecumenical dialogue,
particularly with the Anglican Communion, Jon taught theology for a few years at
Loyola Chicago.
As I ready for the podcast, I hoped to avoid the
weeds of an esoteric dialog of little curiosity to our viewers. I feel
we did. The truth is, we ended up calling the episode “Espresso Ecumenism.” Our
strongest take-away was that, whereas it will be important for varied Christian
church buildings to have high-level dialogue about theological nuances and historic
divisions, actual church unity might be constructed – and is being constructed – on the
grassroots stage – individual to individual– in cafes and church basements, in homeless
shelters and metropolis parks, in marriages and households – one member of the physique of
Christ to the opposite.
“We’ve all of the high-level paperwork that we want at this
level,” Jon mentioned. “We have to get very intentional about constructing our
grassroots relationships.”
Jon and I ended our dialog with one final, nice hope
and keenness for ecumenical dialogue: racial justice in our church buildings. “There’s
going to be no seen unity among the many church buildings till we kind out the racial
difficulty that’s our nation’s unique sin,” he mentioned. “The African American
church buildings are fairly proper in feeling, ‘Why ought to we be part of up with these church buildings
that haven’t even acknowledged the sin a lot much less whole-heartedly dedicated
themselves to doing one thing about it?’”
This want for interracial therapeutic in our church buildings echoed
wishes expressed on the January Higher Springfield Interfaith Affiliation’s
normal assembly, which will get a point out within the podcast. It is a crucial aim,
and given our context right here in Springfield, an pressing one.
I’ve turned my consideration to WPCU this 12 months for that cause,
and others.
Most significantly, this historic second. Monday was the
nationwide observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and the inauguration
of a felonious president who, if we take him at his phrase, is bent on sowing
chaos and division. We sorely want the witness of Christian unity presently.
And, as a result of the Ultimate Doc of the XVIth Normal Synod
of Bishops, which concluded final October, offers renewed hope for church
unity by clearing a path for dialog about papal supremacy, lengthy a
stumbling block in ecumenical dialogue.
Lastly, this 12 months marks the 1700 anniversary of the Council
of Nicaea, the origin of our treasured frequent creed. As John Oxenham’s lovely
hymn reminds us, our service within the title of this God, Jesus, is “the golden
twine shut binding humankind.”
Might we be so certain.
Sister Beth Murphy, OP, is the communications director
for the Dominican Sisters of Springfield.
