This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.
Today’s readings are about unity, and its lack. On the night before Jesus died, in the midst of the agony of anticipation, Jesus prayed with all his heart and soul. The intention for which He so passionately prayed was this simple one: That His disciples be one, unified. If this is what Jesus prayed for when his ardent love was at its climax, it is what we as Christians should work for.
In the first reading, the accusers of Paul demonstrate the opposite: Disunity, strife, antagonism. And Paul is able to take advantage of this, thwarting their attempt to bring him down.
What is it that causes their assembly to fall apart? It is disagreement–disagreement not on matters of opinion, but on matters of fact. Do angels exist? Either they do or they don’t; one may vehemently argue either side; but in the end, their existence or non-existence is a matter of fact, not of opinion. Same with the resurrection from the dead.
Thus, the root cause of the disunity of this assembly is an inability to ascertain reliably facts that are important. And this inability is caused by original sin. The root cause of their disunity is the clouding and darkening of the intellect caused by original sin.
Luckily, ever since Pentecost, when we received the Holy Spirit, we Christians are completely immune to this phenomenon. We are in perfect intellectual union and agreement due to the enlightening action of the Holy Spirit.
It is not quite that way, is it? The count of official Christian denominations is disputed; some estimate 33,000, others 47,000… Christianity has splintered over and over again since the Reformation. Why? Because Christians can’t agree on the facts.
What are we to do, if the mere fact of being Christian, thus with access to the Holy Spirit, does not guarantee us infallible apprehension of the facts?
The only answer: Humility. If the Spirit Himself teaches us any lesson to start, a sort of Life in the Spirit 101, it is this: We get nowhere without humility. The Holy Spirit actually will grant us the wisdom and knowledge that we long for, if we listen to Him with a wide-open heart–both when He speaks through our hearts, and when He speak through the imperfect humans around us.
Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus to give you a heart after His own Heart, filled with the Holy Spirit, linked to the Trinity; ask Him to shape your heart to listen like His does.
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