Diversity and Unity in the Church
by Fr. David M. Knight
Monday, November 4, 2024
Thirtieth-first week of the Year
Memorial of Saint Charles Borromeo, Bishop
Phil 2:1-4/Lk 14:12-14 (Lectionary 485)
Much of Paul’s letter to the Philippians is devoted to instruction about unity and humility within the Christian community at Philippi and exhortations to growth, joy, and peace in their life together. Philippians 2:5-11 is an example: Paul asks, “Make my joy complete.” Today, when so many are leaving the Catholic community, this makes us ask whether it is because they don’t find lifegiving joy at Mass. And if not, why not?
Ultimately, of course, joy is each one’s personal responsibility. No one can “make” us happy; and true joy comes from what is within us, not outside. As a “Fruit of the Spirit,” Joy comes first from the “Gift of the Spirit” which is Understanding. If we understand “the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,” the “favor of sharing in God’s own divine life” as true sons and daughters of the Father, that is enough to give us joy in this life and the next! But Paul still asks Christians to make his joy “complete.”
How? Paul puts “unanimity” first: “being of the same mind, with the same love, united in heart—in spirit and ideals.” Why? Because it makes “the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ” visible. If the same Holy Spirit is enlightening all, and the same Jesus is loving in and through all, this should be evident in our unity. Jesus prayed for this: May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I am in you, so that the world may know that you have sent me. (John 17:20-24)
Uniformity is not unity. When we come together for Mass or anything else, we should be more concerned about revealing this mystery than about our personal preferences or our particular interpretation of the liturgical instructions or rules of the Church. People can be “united in heart, in spirit and ideals” on the level of divine faith, hope and love, while expressing themselves quite differently: standing or kneeling for Communion, receiving on the tongue or in the hand, using the new English translation at Mass or the one they are used to, attending Mass in English or Latin, singing together or sitting silently alone, dressing “appropriately” or by the norms of their peer group, avoiding “gender exclusive” language or ignoring it. Most of these choices have doctrinal significance, which the choosers are seldom aware of, but they will not divide the community unless we refuse to “live and let live.”
Diversity does not destroy unity if, as Paul urges, no one speaks “out of rivalry or conceit,” but rather all “in humility regard others as better than themselves”—at least conceivably, as persons, although perhaps mistaken in judgment. His rule—“Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others”—can guide us to put the greater good—“the encouragement that love can give, fellowship in the Spirit, compassion and sympathy”—above our own particular issues.
Blessed John Henry Newman said, “To live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often.” The Catholic Church, as a living body, must keep changing to stay alive and grow. As stewards of the Kingdom, we are obliged to accept and even initiate change. But while preserving “the unity of the Spirit in the bond of love.” This is our responsibility.
Initiative: Deal with your demons. What will you sacrifice for felt stability?
Reflections brought to you by the Immersed in Christ Ministry
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