Is Christ divided? This provocative question of St. Paul in today’s second reading invites us to consider how we, as Christians, express our unity amidst our great diversity.
In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul expressed a measure of frustration with the divisions that had occurred within the Church of Corinth. To his dismay, Paul found that persons were dividing into factions and declaring their loyalty to the leaders of those factions. In response, Paul asked a very direct question, “Is Christ divided?” If there is one Christ in whom all Christians have professed their faith, how can there be divisions within the Christian community? Paul reminds his fellow Christians that Christ died on the cross precisely to reconcile the human family with each other and with God. Christians, therefore, should seek to live in peace with each other and preserve their unity in Christ.
            For centuries, the Christian Church has suffered the scandal of division. The first division was between the Eastern and Western Churches which was followed much later by the Protestant Reformation that fractured the unity of the Western Church. After the Second Vatican Council in the early 1960s, our Roman Catholic Church gave greater emphasis to a renewed dialogue with our brothers and sisters in faith. The energy given those efforts have ebbed and flowed over the years, but there remains a fundamental desire to emphasize our unity in Christ while seeking to bridge the differences that continue to divide us. We have also recognized the importance of working together on areas of shared conviction particularly in the areas of social justice and more recently in our common concern for the environment. While divisions may remain acute, we can still find ways to show how our Christian faith can unite us in common purpose to advance the well-being of the human family and to give witness to what God desires for God’s people. In this way, we can show how the love of Christ unites us in our diversity.
            May we continue to pray for a deeper unity among all Christians!
 
                                Fr. Mark Hallinan, S.J