Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – The Church is like a river that irrigates the heart of human history. Over its course, it finds ever new and different landscapes to which it must adapt herself. Sometimes they are narrow channels, and other times they are wide valleys. In yet other instances, they are gentle rolling hills. She always takes on the right form in order to reach all the parts of the land with the living water that comes forth from her.
In our day, with its rapid and substantial change, the Church must carry out her living mission as bearer of Christ’s Spirit. A certain familiarity with the vital context in which society progresses is needed, in order to guarantee that no human entity remains void of the light of the Word of God. All the social structures should be at the service of man and his supernatural vocation. This is the highest human dignity: to be called to share in God’s life. Thus, although the social and cultural changes at present frequently take on a secular slant, man’s heart always has a thirst for God, the need for a love that does not end with death, of a love that overcomes death. Today, we are in need of a new evangelization, especially in the countries of “ancient Christian tradition.” The Church was born to evangelize, this is her most profound essence. And the more thirst she observes in mankind, the greater her effort should be in carrying out her task to quench this thirst, this interior yearning for truth, redemption, and eternal life that every man carries inside him. Benedict XVI says: “Once again I repeat that only Christ can fulfil the most intimate aspirations that are in the heart of each person. Only Christ can humanize humanity and lead it to its “divinization”… Those who allow themselves to be led by the Spirit understand that placing oneself at the service of the Gospel is not an optional extra, because they are aware of the urgency of transmitting this Good News to others.” (20-7-2008) There is no doubt that the division that exists among Christians is a great difficulty in offering a convincing testimony of the Gospel. Thus, the search for unity should be a priority in the Church. This unity cannot achieved without prayer. “In the face of the shortcomings and sins that still prevent the full communion of Christians, each one of these exhortations has retained its relevance, but this is particularly true of the order ‘pray without ceasing.’ What would the ecumenical movement become without the personal or communal prayer that ‘they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you’ (Jn 17: 21)? Where would we find the ‘extra impetus’ of faith, hope and charity, of which our search for unity has a special need today?” (Benedict XVI, 25-1-2008).
Jesus’ prayer “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,” urges us on in the quest for unity. Division is an obstacle in the Church’s testimony. We should not fall into the temptation of trying seek unity through a false path of eliminating the truths of the faith that separate us. In this regards, John Paul II said: “Here it is not a question of altering the deposit of faith, changing the meaning of dogmas, eliminating essential words from them, accommodating truth to the preferences of a particular age, or suppressing certain articles of the Creed under the false pretext that they are no longer understood today. The unity willed by God can be attained only by the adherence of all to the content of revealed faith in its entirety. In matters of faith, compromise is in contradiction with God who is Truth” (Ut unum sint, 18).
Unity can only be achieved in charity and in the truth. Let us pray for unity. What an amazing force would be given by one flock and one shepherd! Let us believe in the power of God to overcome the difficulties on the path to unity. “And should we ask if all this is possible, the answer will always be yes. It is the same answer which Mary of Nazareth heard: with God nothing is impossible” (Ut unum sint, 102). (Agenzia Fides 23/12/2008)
