[stephenkhoo]

16 May 2013, Thursday, 7th Week of Easter
SECURING PEACE AND UNITY BUT NOT AT ANY PRICE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: ACTS 22:30; 23:6-11; JOHN 17:20-26

We can appreciate the urgency of Jesus’ prayer for His disciples before His departure to the Father. Jesus’ purpose of coming to us is in order to reconcile us with His Father and all of humanity with each other, indeed, with the whole of creation. Recognizing the challenges to remain in love and in unity among ourselves because of temperamental, cultural, intellectual and personal differences, Jesus was concerned that divisions among His own disciples would not only hamper the message they were to proclaim to the world, namely, that of reconciliation, but would make them counter-witnesses to the mission of communion.

Sensing that division among His disciples would compromise the mission entrusted to them, He prayed for unity among His disciples. He “raised his eyes to heaven and said: ‘Holy Father, I pray not only for these, but for those also who through their words will believe in me. May they all be one … I have given them the glory you gave to me, that they may be one as we are one … may they be so completely one that the world will realise that it was you who sent me.’” In spite of the prayer of Jesus and His expressed wish that we all be one in love and unity so that we can fulfill the mission of reconciliation and communion, we know that all of us in our own ways have caused division within our families, our Christian community, our organization and in society at large. In all humility, we must own our failures in love and understanding of each other, our sins of selfishness, pride and self-will that destroy love and break trust. Lacking the humility to hear each other out, we have become judgmental and unkind, or even unjust, in dealing with each other.

In an uncanny act, St Paul caused a racket when under trial; he aligned himself with the Pharisees. “He called out in the Sanhedrin, ‘Brothers, I am a Pharisee and the son of Pharisees. It is for our hope in the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.’ As soon as he said this a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was split between the two parties.” Clearly it shows that even the Sanhedrin could not function as one because of the fundamental differences with regard to faith in the resurrection. They were able to function together only for pragmatic reasons, mainly political and economic motives. However when driven to stand up for their fundamental belief, they realized that they could no longer pretend to work as one. This prudent action of St Paul to some extent saved him at least for the time being.

But at the same time, he taught us one important consideration with respect to maintaining unity, which is what the Church teaches in the Decree on Ecumenism on the hierarchy of truths. “When comparing doctrines with one another, they should remember that in Catholic doctrine there exists an order or ‘hierarchy’ of truths, since they vary in their relation to the foundation of the Christian faith. (Unitatis Redintegratio 11). Whilst we might not agree on everything, we can still promote unity by at least working with each other on those fundamental areas of doctrines, moral and practices which we agree on and leave the rest to further dialogue without necessarily condemning each other.

On the other hand, when there are disagreements among ourselves we must not pretend that the differences do not exist and attempt to secure peace and unity at all cost, even to the extent of compromising our beliefs. Again in the same Decree, the Church cautions us against such superficial attempts to seek peace by reminding us thus, “It is, of course, essential that the doctrine be clearly presented in its entirety. Nothing is so foreign to the spirit of ecumenism as a false irenicism which harms the purity of Catholic doctrine and obscures its genuine and certain meaning.” Instead of diluting our beliefs so as to secure a shallow unity, what should be done is that “Catholic belief must be explained more profoundly and precisely, in such a way and in such terms that our separated brethren can also really understand it.” And of course, in ecumenical dialogue, it must be done “with love for the truth, with charity, and with humility.”

What is true with respect to ecumenism is also true in every area of our life, whether in the Church, in family life or in relationships. If there are differences among ourselves, we too must seek at least unity in the essentials with respect to our vision and mission. However we must allow pluralism in expression, especially with regard to the non-essentials, which can be discussed and compromises could be made. If we are too insistent that others follow exactly our whims and fancies, it shows our lack of charity and mutual respect for others. Whilst we seek to have greater unity in every area of life and in work, we must not, for the sake of the trivial, lose the fundamentals that enable us to live and let live, and to realize our common goals for the good of the Church, society, our own family and workplace.

In the final analysis, unity can only be possible when we are more grafted in Christ. That is what the Lord says when He prayed, “Father, may they be one in us, as you are in me and I am in you …. With me in them and you in me, may they be so completely one …” Unity with the Father can only be brought about by Christ. Jesus said, “I have made your name known to them and will continue to make it known, so that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and so that I may be in them.” In this sense, unity is a gift from the Lord. In fact, it is a gift from the Holy Spirit, for He is the bond of love between the Father and the Son. For this reason, as we come nearer to the feast of Pentecost, the Church exhorts us to pray for a renewal of the Holy Spirit in us. Since, as Jesus said, without knowing the Father’s love we cannot have the capacity to love, we must all the more in persevering and fervent prayer ask for the Holy Spirit to renew the Father’s love in us. Only when the love of God is in us, can we also learn to accept and love each other’s differences, and in charity and humility, together seek to find the fullness of truth so that our love and unity is complete like that of Jesus with His Father in willing and knowing, in truth and love.

So let each one of us examine ourselves in humility before God and acknowledge our own shortcomings before we condemn the other person. Let us pray that we might not be too presumptuous about our judgment of others. More often than not, it is because of our own sins, especially the hidden ones, that prevent us from seeing the beam in our own eyes, and instead seek to take out the splinter from our brother’s eyes. (cf Mt 7:3f) Truly, there can be no unity and mutual understanding among ourselves, especially when there are breaches in love, without interior conversion since “to say that we have never sinned is to call God a liar and to sow that his word is not in us.” (1 Jn 1:10)

Let us have courage, as the Lord urges St Paul: “Courage! You have borne witness for me in Jerusalem, now you must do the same in Rome.” If reconciliation is difficult, we must never give up. To do so is to give up on the power of God at work in us. Regardless of any difficulty in our relationships with our fellowmen, especially when working and ministering in the Church, let us cultivate a “spiritual ecumenism”, namely, that of a life of holiness and interior conversion so that we can grow in mutual brotherly love. Our hope for unity and reconciliation among ourselves as Catholics and with non-Catholic Christians rests ultimately and entirely on the prayer of Christ for the Church, in the love of the Father for us and in the power of the Holy Spirit.