Ecumenism....

My friend Carmen (we sweated through graduate school at USD together) sent me a link to her weekly parish newsletter, and the subject was Ecumenism. I have copied this portion, written by Father Dennis, because I think it has real repurcussions for all Christians:

Think about this: there are more than two billion Christians in the world today, more than half of whom are Catholics. If the Christians of the world would tear down the walls that separate us and build bridges of understanding and acceptance, in mutual faith to bring us together, imagine what our impact on the world would be!

We cannot isolate ourselves in doctrinal cocoons and say we are doing God's will. Before His death, Jesus prayed that "...all may be one" (Jn. 17:21). It is God's will that e find ways to restore the sinful breach in Christian unity. Remember, too: "None who cry out 'Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom of God but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven" (Mt. 7:21). Dare we turn a deaf ear and a blind eye to the will of God for the good of His Church by failing to work for Christian Unity?

Fr. Dennis, San Rafael Parish, San Diego www.sanrafaelparish.org

The Catholics have been reaching out an olive branch since Vatican II's statement on Ecumenism, and Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI have specifically made overtures to the Orthodox and Protestant communities. To quote the song from the sixties that we sang at Lake Murray a couple of weeks ago, "We pray that all unity may one day be restored. And they'll know we are Christians by our love...."

Amen ... may it truly be so.