A few weeks back, a Secrets of the Dead episode
sucked me in mid-program when I saw they were exploring the ruins of a basilica
thought to be the location of the Council of Nicaea. It wasn’t, as it turned
out, but the episode was a reminder to me about the outcome of that council.
The one that produced the Nicaean Creed, which, on any given Sunday, most
churchgoers recite. The one that says “We believe in one, holy, catholic, and
apostolic church.”
So, it begs the question: If we all profess the same creed,
why can we not worship together?
It’s a question burdened with complicated answers, addressed
by theologians through ecumenical dialogue, from Greek and Latin roots that
mean “house” and “universal.”
We should not let the challenge of the question overshadow
the hope for unity that burns eternally in the Body of Christ, in response to
Jesus’ prayer for his disciples that “they may be one so that the world may
believe” (see John 17.21).
If the first-century gospel writer felt the need for such a
prayer, perhaps we can realize that divisions in the Body of Christ are not a
new phenomenon! Nor are the wounds they afflict mortal.
We are in the midst of the global observance of the Week of
Prayer for Christian Unity. For more than 100 years, Jan 18-25 has been
observed as such. It’s important to be clear: focusing on Christian unity is
not an over-against proposition. The WPCU doesn’t position Christianity against
any religion, but serves as an annual touchstone for churches that recognize
one baptism in Christ to renew our commitment to find our way toward one
another.
While the Catholic Church has been active in planning and
promoting this annual observance at least since the 1960s, in my experience it
is rare to find Catholic communities tuned in to its significance. Individual
Catholics, yes. But I don’t see much emphasis on it at the parochial level. I
hope I’m just poorly informed.
The good news is, there is very little holding us back from
that unity. We can each start. Right now.
This was brought home to me during a conversation with Dr.
Jon Nilson for my congregation’s monthly podcast, F.L.O.W.cast. (Shameless
plug: the episode drops on Jan. 23 and can be found wherever you get your
podcasts by searching @flowcastlisten.) A veteran of ecumenical dialogue,
especially with the Anglican Communion, Jon taught theology for many years at
Loyola Chicago.
As I prepared for the podcast, I hoped to steer clear of the
weeds of an esoteric conversation of little interest to our audience. I think
we did. In fact, we ended up calling the episode “Coffee Ecumenism.” Our
strongest take-away was that, while it is important for various Christian
churches to have high-level dialogue about theological nuances and historical
divisions, real church unity will be built – and is being built – at the
grassroots level – person to person– in cafes and church basements, in homeless
shelters and city parks, in marriages and families – one member of the body of
Christ to the other.
“We have all the high-level documents that we need at this
point,” Jon said. “We need to get very intentional about building our
grassroots relationships.”
Jon and I ended our conversation with one last, great hope
and passion for ecumenical dialogue: racial justice in our churches. “There is
going to be no visible unity among the churches until we sort out the racial
issue that is our country’s original sin,” he said. “The African American
churches are quite right in feeling, ‘Why should we join up with these churches
that haven’t even recognized the sin much less whole-heartedly committed
themselves to doing something about it?’”
This desire for interracial healing in our churches echoed
desires expressed at the January Greater Springfield Interfaith Association’s
general meeting, which gets a mention in the podcast. It is an important goal,
and given our context here in Springfield, an urgent one.
I’ve turned my attention to WPCU this year for that reason,
and others.
Most importantly, this historical moment. Monday was the
national observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and the inauguration
of a felonious president who, if we take him at his word, is bent on sowing
chaos and division. We sorely need the witness of Christian unity at this time.
And, because the Final Document of the XVIth General Synod
of Bishops, which concluded last October, provides renewed hope for church
unity by clearing a path for conversation about papal supremacy, long a
stumbling block in ecumenical dialogue.
Finally, this year marks the 1700 anniversary of the Council
of Nicaea, the origin of our precious common creed. As John Oxenham’s beautiful
hymn reminds us, our service in the name of this God, Jesus, is “the golden
cord close binding humankind.”
May we be so bound.
Sister Beth Murphy, OP, is the communications director
for the Dominican Sisters of Springfield.
This article appears in A critical loss for District 186.
