There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name
who can at the same time speak ill of me.
For whoever is not against us is for us.
Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink
because you belong to Christ,
amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.
So much of the theological vocabulary that we use as Catholics has its origin or roots within the Greek language. While historically, we know that Jesus and his disciples spoke the common language of Israel, Aramaic, to ensure the widest audience for the Good News after the death and resurrection of the Lord, the remembrances of the apostles were collated and written in the Greek language, the original language of the Christian scriptures.
The term ‘ecumenical’ popularized by the Second Vatican Council, has its root in the Greek word for ‘house’ – ‘oikos.’ It refers to the household of the Church that beautifully signifies the familial roots of what it means to be baptized member in Christ. We are the family of the Church.
Sadly, though, within the 2000-year history of that family, the unity that Jesus prayed for his followers on the night before he died, ‘that all may be one,’ has witnessed the shattering and splintering of that unity. It remains the scandal of Christianity that we Christians have failed to heed that prayer of the Lord and have let the seamless garment of Christian Unity be rent asunder down through the centuries.
One of the primary goals of good Pope St. John XXIII in calling the Second Vatican Council in the early 1960’s was to give the Catholic Church’s affirmation to what had been occurring within other Christian communities since the early 20th century. The ‘ecumenical movement’ was an attempt by Christian communities of diverse background, both Orthodox and Churches of the Reformation, to engage in prayerful dialogue in the hope of bringing healing to the scandal of Christian disunity.
While the Catholic Church was late in engaging in this dialogue toward unity, the Council specifically in its authoritative pronouncements gave its blessing to this movement toward unity. In its 1964 Decree on Ecumenism, the Council definitively taught that God’s spirit can and, indeed, has worked in the other Christian Churches. Rather than taking a defensive stance toward other Christian communities, the Council in this groundbreaking decree desired to focus its attention on the elements that we share with our sisters and brothers who are, sadly, separated from us. The tragedy of this separation was the consequence of arrogance, hubris and sin on the part of all Churches. Under the universal grace of Christ, it is now the hard work of Christians of all communities to find opportunities to bring healing and unity within the one Church of Christ.
Much has been accomplished in the 50 years since the Council as we earnestly pray and work for that Unity that Christ himself prayed for among his followers who bear his name. Yet, much remains to be accomplished if that prayer is to be fully realized.
That work toward Christian unity is not just the responsibility of the Pope, Bishops and clergy but is the challenge of every Christian who desires to be faithful to the words and works of Jesus. Let us pray for the grace that we share in the grace of this blessed endeavor.