Brothers and Sisters in Christ
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity begins on Monday. Normally this would be a time to gather for joint services and events. This year such events will be mainly online [please see the Newsletter for details]. However, it is important that we do not forget this week as we struggle with Covid19 and all it brought to us. As Christians we have a common message to bring to people at this time. This message is the Good News of Jesus Christ which gives us light and hope in the midst of our difficulties. The message that God is indeed “with us” in Jesus Christ, Jesus who experienced the reality of suffering, disruption, bereavement and death in his own life.
This week is a chance to be grateful for how far we have already come. Those of us old enough to remember when we needed special permission to attend the services of other denomination, including things like family weddings and funerals. As one of the few Catholics at my village Church of England primary school I can remember having to go to school later than usual on Ascension Day while the rest of the school went to the village Church of England church to celebrate the feast. Fortunately, we now share worship together, as we do here with the Grosvenor Chapel on Palm Sunday, during Lent and on various other occasions. Perhaps more importantly we share and work together with the other Christian Denominations in the area on a regular basis and in our work for those who are in need. For this we can be grateful for the way in which the Holy Spirit has been at work, especially in the last sixty years or so.
Pope Francis reminds us that we are all brothers and sisters. Living this reality is fundamental to being a Christian. At a time when forces are at work producing division in our world the Christian message that the love of Christ unites all people, “Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female”, is particularly important. The more people are able to see Christians united and working together the more effective we will be in getting this message across.
What might we do to make our witness as Christians more effective. Firstly, we can pray, as Christ prayed, that we may all be one. We can pray that the Holy Spirit will continue to be at work to bring us together. Secondly, we can look into our hearts and see if there are areas of prejudice that keep us apart. Christian unity does not mean denying the differences. It means on honest dialogue and working together. However, there are ways that our history of conflict and lack of charity can get in the way. Thirdly, we can seek new ways of working together. There will be much to do in helping those affected by the virus, the economic effects in particular are likely to be with us for a long time and we need to work together for those in need. There is a danger that the present situation will reinforce competition to make sure that “we” are the ones who get vaccination ahead of others or get economic advantage. As Christians we need to make our voices heard to ensure a just response to the present crisis.
This year’s rather different Week of Prayer for Church Unity gives us an opportunity to take stock, to see how we can move forward together, in different circumstances to proclaim the Gospel to our world.
Fr Chris Pedley, S.J.