Unity and Relationship
by Fr. David M. Knight
Saturday, October 26, 2024
Twenty-Ninth Week of the Year
Lectionary 478
Eph 4:7-16/Lk 13:1-9
Ephesians 4:7-16: As we should expect, Paul’s vision of the Church is ruled by the two basic characteristics of the Trinity: unity and relationship. God is Three Persons. But the Three are One because they are distinguished by their relationships with each other, not by any Person having anything “more” or “less” than any other. God is:
One God, not in the uniqueness of a single person, but in the trinity of a single substance. What we believe about the Father... we understand to be true of the Son and Holy Spirit, without discrepancy. Thus we adore distinctness in persons, unity in essence, and equality in majesty. Since this is carefully doctrinal, we give the Latin: “Unus es Deus... non in unius singularitate personae, sed in unius Trinitate substantiae. Quod enim de tua gloria... credimus, hoc de Filio, hoc de Spiritu Sancto sine discretione sentimus. Ut, in confessione verae sempiternaeque Deitatis, et in personis proprietas, et in essentia unitas, et in majestate adoretur aequalitas.”
The community of the Church is made up of several distinct persons, but they are all “one body and one Spirit” in Christ. And all are equal in dignity.
God gives different gifts to all, to equip everyone “for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ”—“some as apostles, others as prophets, others as evangelists, pastors and teachers.” But the goal is unity, to become one in faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, and form that perfect man who is Christ come to full stature. (There are many translations of this. The “perfect man” here is andra teleion, In Colossians 1:28 it is anthropon teleion; and in Ephesians 2:15 the “new man” is kainon anthropon. According to the New American Bible notes, anthropos can suggest humanity, while aner (andra) is the term for an individual male. “Christ come to full stature” is from the 1970 New American Bible and lectionary.)
And, as in the Trinity, what keeps the distinction of roles and gifts from being division is that they are seen, not as “higher” or “lower,” or as “more” or “less,” but simply as distinctions in relationship. If we stop seeing life in the Church, even for an instant, as a reality of interpersonal relationships, we falsify the picture.
This happens, for example, if authorities “command” as superiors to inferiors, instead of seeking consensus, “making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Or if the governed just do what they are told—perhaps complaining and criticizing between themselves—without expressing their thoughts and feelings openly and frankly to those whose job it is to make decisions. Our goal is to:
grow into the full maturity of Christ the head. Through him the whole body grows, and with the proper functioning of all the members, held together by every supporting ligament, builds itself up in love.
Luke 13:1-9: Jesus rejects the idea that calamities are God’s punishment. But he warns that “unless you reform” we will bring calamity on ourselves. The parable says to reform is to “bear fruit.” This calls for faithful stewardship.
Initiative: Reject any distinction in the Church that implies inequality.
Reflections brought to you by the Immersed in Christ Ministry
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