THE UNITY OF FAITH

First Reading: Acts 1:1-11
Second Reading: Eph 4:1-13
Gospel: Jn 16:15-20

Today the Lord ascends into His place from where He had descended. At the end of the first reading we hear from heavenly beings that the Lord will come one day from heaven just as the way he has ascended (Acts 1:11). The Lord’s departure from the earth is not an abandonment. His departure to heaven is not a retirement for Him from worldly affairs. Now that He has ascended into heaven and taken His seat at the right hand of the Father, He starts to intercede for us. His work load is much more now than when He was on earth just like one of us. St. Augustine says that the Lord’s appearance to St. Paul (then Saul) on the way to Damascus confirms the presence of the Lord in the Church. The Lord’s words to Paul that He is persecuted by Paul reveals Lord’s participation in the life of the Church. During His earthly life, the Lord Jesus was conditioned by space and time. Now that He is with the glorious body of resurrection and is reigning from heaven He is free to be present at everywhere at all the time. Yes, the ascension of the Lord is for our advantage. We get His presence everywhere at any time in the world.

In the second reading, St. Paul invites the faithful to live the life that is in line with our calling. He calls us to maintain the unity of the Spirit (Eph 4:3). To attain this, he advises us to practice lowliness, meekness and patience with love. The Lord prayed for the unity of the disciples in the garden before His passing from the world (Jn 17:21). Unity is the mark of our faith in Jesus. Right from the inception of the church, maintaining unity is the greatest struggle in the Church. No wonder why the Lord specifically prayed for this grace. In the Acts of the Apostles we witness division first Christians in the Church based on circumcision. Later, division erupts based on preachers; each group identity themselves according the messenger rather than the message of Jesus Christ. Today the followers of Jesus are divided very much and it increases day by day; the founding of new church by self-proclaimed pastors is alarming. The same Lord and same faith is parcelled in various ways through different understanding at different churches. In this context what St. Paul tells in second reading is very relevant. The grace of the Lord is given to each one according to his/her need. All that are to build up one body of Christ. We need to use that – the varied gifts of people in the church – to attain the unity of faith (Eph 4:13). The fact that each of us are different is a manifestation of divine beauty and creativity. Our gifts are only a dot in the vast ocean of divine grace. By holding on to this small dot as something extraordinary we try to consider ourselves greater than others. We see our ability and contribution as goodness and gifts but fail to see the contribution of others as good and a grace of God to enhance our living. Until we get this into our minds, no into our hearts we continue to see the other as hell.

As members of the Church we are called to manifest Christ in the world today. The best way to do this is by maintaining unity and peace. To do this get into the words of St. Paul: lowliness and meekness, with patience, forbearing one another in love (Eph 4:2). Just as the Lord maintained unity among His disciples during His earthly life with them, may we strive to maintain unity in the Catholic Church. Reforms and progress are response to the signs of the time. May we develop a Spirit of love to see the changes with the light of Christ so that we may encounter the ascended Christ with unity and peace.   




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