Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - One of the consequences of man's sin is division. Already in the Book of Genesis we see how Babel represented separation, fruit of human pride (Gen 11, 1-9). Men who want to build with their own hands a path to heaven, end up destroying their own capacity to understand one another.
Therefore an important part of the redeeming mission of Christ is to reunite, unify. First of all Christ reunites “the dispersed children of God”. Jesus is the “Good Shepherd” who gathers together the dispersed sheep of Israel. However the unifying mission is not limited to Israel alone. It is addressed to all the peoples of the earth. St Paul affirms that “there is not longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free man, man or woman, since we are all one in Christ Jesus ”. This unity is made manifest and achieved in the Eucharist, since “we all form one Body since we eat of one”.
Sin produced a double separation (it separated man from God and man from his brothers and sisters), this is why new life in Christ presents a double aspect: first it reconciles us with God through his Blood, and makes us into one body.
The history of the Church has witnessed many divisions and schisms from the early times onwards. However particularly painful is our separation from our Orthodox and our Protestant brothers and sisters. At the same time civil society has been marked by fratricidal strife and misunderstanding among peoples. Recently in several countries ethnic wars have caused taken many lives.
Today, as in the past, the human heart continues to need a Redeemer to uproot from the seed of hatred and separation, the fruit of sin. It is the duty of the Church of Christ, holy yet in need of salvation, to continue this redeeming mission, to be in the world a sign of unity and a source of communion.
Pope Benedict affirms XVI: “ To stay together was the condition laid down by Jesus in order to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit; the premise of their harmony was prolonged prayer. In this way we are offered a formidable lesson for every Christian community.
Some think at times that missionary effectiveness depends primarily on careful programming and its subsequent intelligent application through a concrete commitment. The Lord certainly does ask for our collaboration, but before any other response his initiative is necessary: his Spirit is the true protagonist of the Church. ” (Homily, 4 June 2006).
On the day of Pentecost, St Luke writes that the Apostles were gathered with Mary. In prayer together with Our Lady, with the power of the Spirit , the unifying force of the Church is revealed.
If all men and women are to realise that peoples of all nations form one family, they must know that they are children of God. Over and above all distinction of culture, social condition, race or nation there is truth which renders all human persons equal: we are sons and daughters of God, created in his image and likeness, redeemed by the Blood of Christ.
The Christian faithful everywhere, dispersed all over the earth, by living their divine sonship become witnesses of unity and builders of unity. The Church, whose model and example is Mary, must learn from her to keep her heart open to everyone. Mary's maternity must be reflected in the maternity of the Church.
When the risen Lord presents himself to his disciples after the Resurrection, he breathes on them in order to give them the gift of the Spirit and says: “whose sins you shall forgive they are forgiven, who sins you shall retain, they are retained”. For a person to be a channel of reconciliation, he or she must have experienced the joy of being reconciled with God through Christ, of receiving forgiveness for sins. Only those who live in communion of life with God can be a source of communion. One those who are reconciled can be a source of reconciliation amidst humanity divided in the depth of the heart. As the Lord says: from the human heart comes homicide, theft etc. It is the human heart which needs to be reconciled, unified, healed. Therefore the mission of the Church is to offer the reconciliation of God with mankind, in Christ, as St Paul does: “In the name of Christ, I beg you: let yourselves be reconciled with God”. (Agenzia Fides 26/6/2009; righe 50, parole 716)
