Ecumenical Info

Conversion & Christian Unity

January 2005

By Rev. Michael Demkovich, O.P.

As we begin our New Year and strive to meet our well-intended resolutions, we find the reality of our human condition. The diets we began, trips to the gym, daily times of prayer or study, now begin to face our failings. We finish off the last half of that pie, or skip our workout, or forget t pray. Inside all of us we face the temptation to “give up,” to take the easy path, to choose laziness and indifference over rising to the challenges that bring us our desired goal.

Vatican II’s call to Christian Unity is a resolution we ought not to lose sight of or ignore. The genuine scandal that exists in this division is a wound we inflict upon the Body of Christ. The challenges are real and we ought not to dismiss them as insignificant. Division, in the Church, in civil society, in our homes, is a scandal against the charity and fundamental good will we owe one another due to the dignity of our common humanity. Differences call us to seek and explore facets of the truth we may have never known. Differences which are met in true charity (caritas) help us to shed the false sense of who we are in Christ and grow in our understanding of God’s oneness in our Church and World.

St. Paul’s conversion (Acts 9) is a model of what it means to move from division to unity. Saul’s persecution of his enemies was changed when he met the personal, human object of his actions, the fullness of Christ who simply asked, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” St. Paul’s conversion witnesses to the need for change in both the persecutor and the persecuted. Ananais also had to shed his own divisive thinking. He knew the facts about Saul’s actions and feared this enemy. It could not have been an easy thing for him to ignore, and he tells the Lord as much (Acts 9:13-14). Even the disciples in Jerusalem did not trust him save Barnabas (Acts 9:26-27), who brought him to the apostles.

It is this model of conversion that the Church places before us during the Octave of Christian Unity. This January 18-25 is a time to meet the challenge that charity demands of us as Church, but also as a nation, and as family. Like Paul and Ananias we must meet the genuinely human Christ of the Incarnation and set aside our fears and prejudices that divide us while remaining true to the genuine differences that richly bless the Church.

I encourage you, in your parish, with your Christian friends from various denominations, to take these eight days and pray for unity, for the Church and for genuine conversion of heart. Take a few moments each day to pray the Creed, the prayer that truly makes us on in Baptism. Allow this Octave of Christian Unity to heal all division and call us to strive for the unity Christ calls us to. “That all may be one!”

Ecumenical Info

Catholic Works

By Rev. Michael Demkovich, O.P.

D+E+I Offerings 2005! Once more D+E+I, the Dominican Ecclesial Institute, has a line up of Spring offerings to help you discover the richness of the Catholic Faith for today. The Catholic Business Forum (CBF) is in its ninth year of bringing the business community together to explore Catholic values in the work place. The Spring CBF luncheons will be held on Tuesday, February 8 (Mardi Gras) and Wednesday, March 9, at the Albuquerque Petroleum Club. They will examine “Religion & the Media” with columnist Jim Belshaw of the Albuquerque Journal (2/8) and “Catholicism & New Mexico Politics” with Allan Sanchez, Catholic lobbyist at the New Mexico state legislature. [cost $25 each]

In addition D+E+I offers a variety of mini-classes designed to enrich ones faith and increase ones understanding. Beauty and Law seem unlikely topics but on February 12 D+E+I will present “Aquinas for Artists and Lawyers” at San Isidro Parish in Santa Fe from 10:00a.m.-12:30. Discover how this great theologian speaks to Canyon Road and the Roundhouse. On February 12, 22 & March 1 plan on attending “Ecclesia: Voices of Catholic Women” designed for teachers as an after school offering at St. Mary’s School from 4:00-5:30p.m. Find out how three women (Catherine of Siena, Gertrude of Helfta, & Flanerry O’Connor) influenced the Church in their day. [Certificates of Participation available for ASF teachers]

These women knew God’s grace in their lives, but just what is “grace.” To find out that answer plan on attending “A Brief Theology of Grace” on Thursday, March 3 & 10 at Fatima Parish from 9:30 – 11:00 a.m. It has been a concept debated through the ages. Grace help us to live our lives of faith amid challenge. On March 3 & 10 from 7:30-8:45 p.m. D+E+I will present “Coping as Catholics” at Prince of Peace parish. Cost for the mini-classes is $8 per session. For more information or to register call 505.243.0525.