Easter 7 - That All May Be One

 

Homily for Easter 7

May 12, 2024

That All May Be One

 

            There are many wonderful saints that you can name your children after, but please do not name your kids after St. Josaphat. Despite his name, he really was a remarkable saint. He was born in Ukraine in a time of tremendous turmoil. Christianity had been fracturing for centuries – first the Eastern Orthodox broke off of the Catholic Church, then Protestants began their revolt. Josaphat lived in the crosshairs of this division: Ukraine had many different Orthodox and Protestant branches, and sadly they were constantly fighting with one another – sometimes with words, other times with violence.

            So St. Josaphat made it his life’s mission to work for Christian unity. He became a monk and began praying so constantly for the unity of Christians that it was said that he still whispered prayers while asleep! He fasted and sacrificed, sometimes doing extreme bodily penances like praying all night in the snow without warm clothes, so that the separated brethren would return to the Catholic Church. Slowly people began to recognize his holiness, and many Orthodox and Protestant parents would send their sons to the monastery school. Whenever their kids would have St. Josaphat as a teacher, the kids would inevitably convert to become Catholic (at times, against the wishes of their parents!). The parents, then, would come and debate with Josaphat, who would treat them with charity but argue convincingly for the truth of Catholicism, and many of them ended up converting to the True Faith! He was so effective that he was nicknamed the “Soul-Snatcher” – to which he responded, “Yes, I will snatch all souls and bring them to Heaven with me!”

            Christ desired Christian unity with such intensity that He made it His last prayer recorded in Scripture – “Father, that they all may be one!” It has been such a scandal in the world that Christianity has become so broken: our Eastern brothers and sisters often practice Orthodoxy in its many divisions, while there are over 33,000 Protestant denominations. This is unfortunate, because the Body of Christ should have no divisions! St. Paul himself speaks about that when addressing the Corinthians: “Do you not have divisions among you, when one says, I belong to Paul or I belong to Apollos?” So likewise it is a scandal when Christians are divided.

            But does it matter, then, which faith we belong to? Shouldn’t we just find the Church that works for us? On the contrary, it does matter what Church we belong to – because we want to belong to the Church that Jesus Himself founded. As Catholics, we can trace our spiritual lineage back to the Apostles themselves – Pope Francis is the 267^th successor of Simon Peter as the first Pope. It was Christ Himself who said to Peter, “You are a rock, and on this rock [of your faith] I will build My Church.” Not only do we trace a spiritual lineage back to the Apostles, we teach the same things He taught. You may have seen in the news a couple weeks ago that the United Methodist Church recently gathered to vote to redefine marriage as no longer only between a man and a woman. Why would we belong to a Church that isn’t faithful to what Jesus Christ Himself taught His Apostles, but decides for itself what to believe?

            As Catholics, there are three elements in our Church that are the source of unity. First, the Eucharist. It is amazing to know that everywhere in the world, the same Mass is being celebrated everywhere, with the same readings and prayers. Second, we share the same teachings – not just in the world today, but throughout history – we believe the same things that St. Ignatius believed five centuries ago, or St. Francis eight centuries ago, or St. Benedict fifteen centuries ago. Beautiful to know that through the teachings and the Eucharist we are connected to what we call the Church Triumphant – the saints in Heaven. Thirdly, we are also united through the Pope. An early Church Father, St. Ambrose, penned these famous lines: “Where Peter is, there is the Church. And where the Church is, no death is there, but life eternal.” The reason there are 33,000 Protestant denominations, all professing the same Bible, is that no one has the authority to authentically interpret the Bible, so if two Protestants disagree, they just split from one another and start their own church. What a blessing it is to know that we DO have an authentic interpreter of the Bible – that is the Catholic Church, in union with the Pope. If we separate ourselves from the Pope – which is called schism – then we know we have left the Church that Christ founded.

            We ought to pray and work, then, for Christian unity – that is, for all men and women to come into the Catholic Church. Sometimes we shy away from inviting others, out of fear of proselytizing – but it is not undue pressure to share the riches we have in Catholicism with those outside of the flock!

            Our Church officially teaches extra ecclesia nulla salus – outside the Church there is no salvation. This does not necessarily mean that non-Catholics automatically go to Hell, but it does mean that any of the streams of grace that are present in other churches come from the fountain of the Catholic Church. The Bible? Came from the Church. A personal relationship with Jesus? Sounds like something the Apostles had, and passed down. Worship music? “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” was written in the 800s, while “Be Thou My Vision” came from the 600s – both Catholic hymns. St. Thomas Aquinas wrote the “Tantum Ergo” which we sing at Adoration, and St. Francis wrote the poem that became “All Creatures of Our God and King.” Fellowship? Catholics invented the idea – the early Mass was part of a larger potluck supper called an “Agape Love Feast” – sounds like a party I’d like to attend! Any good thing in any other Christian denomination has its roots in Catholicism. The fullness of Truth, and the fullness of the means of salvation, exist within the Catholic Church.

             Let’s make a resolution, here and now, to remain within the embrace of the Catholic Church until death. The Church is a good Mother and Teacher – perhaps, at times, correcting us, but also comforting us and nourishing us and helping us grow into the saints we were born to be.