At the end of his third journey (we are around the year 58), Paul returns to Jerusalem and causes a violent riot in the Temple. Like other times, the Jews want to kill him because he does not respect the law of Moses and the traditions. The tribune permits him to defend himself and he tells the story of his vocation. The moment he declares he was sent by God, all hell breaks out and the guards have to take him away. They want to scourge him but he reveals that he is a Roman citizen and they spare him. However, he must appear before the court called the Sanhedrin. The divisive theme of Resurrection causes the two groups of Sadducees and Pharisees to quarrel. Someone defends Paul and someone else, we are now used to it, wants to kill him. They take him back to jail and there he has a dream. It is a dream of encouragement that announces a future testimony to him in Rome.
“Take courage!”, “Don’t be afraid!”, are words that God addresses to each of us when we find ourselves in difficult situations, with no way out. They are promises for our future, they help us to look beyond. These are words that are also addressed to the Church.
I was thinking of the words of Jesus in the Gospel: “… that they may all be one”, “… that they be one even as we are one”, and “that they may become perfectly one”. I was thinking of the divisions present in Christianity (Catholics, Anglicans, Orthodox, Methodists, Adventists) and the consequent confusion or scandal for the people of God. Jesus speaks of unity in view of witness, so that “the world may believe …”. Unfortunately this is not the case. I was thinking of the ecumenical movement, born before the Second Vatican Council, of the failed attempts to regain unity or to find points in common or to work together for the good of humanity. There have been many failures, unfortunately, but also some timid signs of reconciliation that can help us hope. The encouragement is given to Paul during his dream, that “Take courage” can still resound in the Church today, to no longer erect walls and fences, to never tire of building bridges, to never stop doing good in unity.
I was thinking of the experience of our somascan confrere Fr. Albano Allocco, at Baia Mare, Romania. He has always been involved in welcoming the poorest, young people who live in the railway station, who prostitute themselves (men and women), and who take drugs with glue. He succeeded in a small miracle: all the religious confessions present in that town work for the same charity project: welcoming, feeding, and helping the poorest. The unity of doctrine has not been achieved, but the result of unity in charity has been obtained. Unity arises from solidarity and compassion. The rest will come later. “Take courage!”
The challenge of unity has its roots in the recognition of differences. In his life, Jesus never worked to promote uniformity, but unity. Unfortunately, we are often led to exaggerate uniformity, that is, to do all the same things. There is also a uniformity which is an expression of power: for example, we Catholics must be a united bloc against the evil of the world, there cannot be different positions between us. Uniformity could change into a bad idea of identity where differences begin to be highlighted as negative: “he is one of us, he is right” or “he is not one of us, he is wrong”. Let us think about how much diversity there was in the group of Twelve. They had not chosen each other, their Master had called them. Jesus prayed that they would be “one”. Jesus prays that we learn to be one in the triune God, in a unity where differences coexist and become richness and creativity.
We think about our community. We haven’t chosen each other. We come from different areas of the planet, we have different cultures and different characters, and each one brings its baggage of richness and its limits. We live together for a long time. If origin and culture do not become obstacles but blessings, if we love each other as brothers beyond differences, if we know how to reconcile, if we look together in the same direction, whoever sees us from the outside will have a positive witness: the world will believe. If we are divided and cannot stand each other, we will probably turn many people away from the faith.
We must strongly emphasize, however, that true unity is not only the fruit of personal effort or goodwill but is the fruit of personal adherence to the Father and his plan expressed in Jesus. “As you Father, are in me, and I in you, that they may also be in us, so that the world may believe”.
This is true at all levels: family, parish, and society.
We still have a long way to go. We still have many fears and many prejudices to overcome.
We need that Spirit who “blows where it wills” and is capable of opening new paths for those who trust and accept to breathe his air. The Gospel reminds us that we need that divine breath which we too often refuse entry into our communities and our lives.