Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
As I have been assigned, first as a seminarian, then later as a deacon, and now as a priest, at any parish that has a school, there is one early question that can change the effectiveness of my ministry. It’s always asked by at least one student in every school, and the question can be simplified into four words: Michigan or Michigan State? Generally, the question refers to athletics, and if I answer correctly, then that young man or woman has a connection, because we like the same team. Now, as far as athletics goes, for the most part, we have been teaching our “Older Brother,” (their words, not mine) a lesson. But, as happens, coaches change, teams improve or get worse, and that’s what feeds a good, competitive spirit.
Problems happen when the rival mentality that feeds a University’s student body and the alumni creeps into the Church. And, unfortunately, the United States is no stranger to this phenomenon. While it is certainly fine to connect to certain causes more than others because of a similarity in personality of one of the leaders, or a focus in an area that is near and dear to our hearts, the Church is not the NCAA, made up of opposing teams that, while keeping good sportsmanship, are trying to destroy each other on the field, court, ice, or any other venue.
This problem is not new. We hear about the exact same problem in the second reading from St. Paul’s first letter to the people of Corinth. Paul writes, and we heard, “I urge you, brothers and sisters…that there be no divisions among you…For it has been reported to me…that each of you is saying, ‘I belong to Paul,’ or ‘I belong to Apollos,’ or ‘I belong to Cephas.’” Paul wrote this letter from Ephesus somewhere between AD 52 and 57, which means that not 20 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, his followers were already finding ways to attack the unity that Christ desired of His Church.
The problem continues today, with some claiming, “I belong to this cause,” or “I belong to that movement.” Again, while it is fine to look up to these causes and groups and to admire them as much as they promote causes that we find important and give us the true faith, we cannot treat our allegiance as to one camp over and against another in the Catholic Church. Truly, none of you belong to any one cause. You belong to Christ! As much as those bishops help you to belong to Christ and follow the true faith, they are to be followed. As much as they divide you from Christ and the true faith, they are to be avoided.
At the end of today’s Gospel, we heard about the call of the first of the Twelve Apostles. And already we begin to see some of the diversity in unity. Peter was no doubt a little different than Andrew, as are any set of brothers. The same probably went for James and John, the sons of Zebedee. And then among the four of them, there were probably many differences, even though they were all fishermen. And yet, they were unified in following Jesus and obeying Him as He preached the Gospel and cured the infirm. One can only imagine the diversity of personalities when all Twelve were gathered together. And yet all, minus Judas, were first and foremost concerned with following Jesus. And then you add Paul into the mix, Paul who chided Peter, not for his teaching, but for his lack of action that followed his own teaching of saying that Gentiles did not have to keep kosher law.
There is no problem with true diversity. It is a gift of the Holy Spirit to the different cultures into which the Gospel has been preached. It is a gift to those who take seriously the teachings of the Church, and seek to make those teachings a reality in the world. We see diversity in unity in the 21 different rites of the Catholic Church, who have legitimately developed certain traditions that vary among the rites. But they are all unified by their basic structure and their fidelity to the legitimate authorities who guide how the Mass develops in their rite. We see diversity in the many ways that Catholics try to bring their faith in the public sector and decrease the social evils that plague us: abortion, poverty, racism, and many more. But that diversity is also bound in unity to teaching which is in harmony with what we have first received from Christ and have developed over the centuries in harmony with Scripture and Tradition. Just like an orchestra, we are made up of many instruments that play individual parts, but those instruments and parts must be united by a common score of music, lest we are left with a cacophony.
This Tuesday ends the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. And while we certainly pray that all who bear the name of Christ, all Christians, may be drawn together into the one Church that Jesus Christ founded, where the fullness of grace and truth are found, the Catholic Church, we cannot neglect the real need for unity in the members of that same Catholic Church.
This cause and that movement are not Michigan State and Michigan. We are all a part of the Body of Christ, the family of God’s adopted children in Christ. Follow those causes who draw you to a closer relationship with Christ as they pass on the authentic faith of Jesus’ one Church. But do so only to the extent that they promote unity and charity in truth and in fidelity to the Gospel of God. May Jesus’ prayer in the Upper Room be fulfilled soon: “ut unum sint”: “that they may be one.”