COMMENT: Christian Unity

Dear William,

Thank you for Christian Unity sharing.

This evening, the Chapter Room, the Abbot's talk quoted from a Subiaco Benedictine  of Chilworth. "The good monk is is the best balance life if he has a 'chip' in both shoulders!" The Abbot was talking about the life of silence in the monastic life.

Maybe, there is an application here in the communion of Christian life.

And your words lead on to the Sirit of tenderheartedness.

 "Come and take My infinite tenderness. - '...dans Ma douceur infie'." (He AND i).

Yours ...

Donald

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: William W....
To: Donald....
Sent: Wednesday, 23 January 2013, 16:32
Subject: Christian unity ... abandon the cause, embrace the reality

Dear Father Donald,

This may not be a welcome comment [so please forgive and ignore me], but it arises too often for me not to present it to someone, and this is the only 'forum' I know:  I have a belief in a loving devotion to Our Lord regardless of whichever 'church' to which one 'belongs'... but to fulfil this bond of unity one thing greatly troubles me:

Christian Unity.... cannot be forged on the basis of dogma. The principles of disunity are the 'definitions' (especially over the 'Eucharist') and the 'devotions' (particularly 'Marian') and 'liturgical' (formalisation) - I experienced all three in becoming a Catholic. The 'poles apart' are extremes only observed at the level of heirarchy, or through dependant conservatism in the rank and file.

In the pews, where warm hearts welcome others, there are no such 'certainties' (!) on either side, rather all is determined by an individual's devotional response to Our Lord, which often is affected by upbringing and example, education and culture. Yes, each Church must needs 'define' its beliefs, but it is only at the deep intellectual level that the differences can form a barrier to unity. Intellectual arguments seldom agree (!), but those should not stand in the way of unity. Unity is the voice of the people, the crowds before the mount of the Beatitudes.

I have never walked into a room full of people who might agree on all matters of opinion (which is the common word for forms of belief), yet goodwill and acceptance of another's views draw all men together as a united humanity. Could the Church never allow personal devotion - well versed in its catechism, in its own belief - over the strictures of definitions?

Let us imagine that we together greet Our Lord on the shores of Galilee: we will all approach him in varied ways: there will be those who 'formalise' him, those who greet him with 'emotion', those who deeply 'reflect' on his presence. Why can't we all meet him, greet him, worship him together in our own way as the Spirit gives us? We are there, he is present, with no one analysing their system of belief.

The Eucharist is for me uniquely special, for my neighbour a memorial, for the other a sharing in the loaves and the fishes: but we can receive him all together in our own way?

Simplistically,

William