Why Blessed Hope Communications, Inc. is interested in building unity in the Body of Christ
Unity that the world may believe
Our Lord’s prayer for the unity of his disciples “that they may all be one” is tied to the very mission that he entrusted to them, “so that the world may believe” (John 17:21).
At the beginning of the last century a group of missionaries met to discuss among themselves their various experiences evangelizing the unreached peoples of the world. They remarked that the fact that numerous denominations sent missionaries had led the intended hearers of their message to question the legitimacy of the gospel. “Why were Christians divided if they professed one gospel as the Good News?”
Why indeed? Disunity among Christians over the centuries has weakened and brought harm to our efforts to evangelize the world for Christ. Our disunity is a sin against God and betrays the dignity of the Church. Saint John Paul II wrote in his encyclical Ut unum sint (1995), “the quest for Christian unity is … a duty which springs from the very nature of the Christian community” (Ut unum sint [UUS], 40). Here the pope was unpacking for us the teachings of Vatican II. For example, the work of unity is fundamental to our identity as the Church, the body of Christ.
Brothers and sisters in Christ
Gathering for the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), the bishops were led by the Holy Spirit to make absolutely clear the Catholic Church’s commitment to Christian unity. The Council’s Decree on Ecumenism, Unitatis redintegratio, recognized that those who believe in Christ and are baptized with water in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, are truly our brothers and sisters in Christ (Unitatis redintegratio [UR], 3).
The Council Fathers also sounded a call to action, telling Catholics to walk in unity with our brothers and sisters for that is what our common baptism has brought about. The bishops called upon all members of the Church to do their part in this matter, saying that concern for restoring unity pertains to the whole Church, faithful and clergy alike. “It extends to everyone according to the ability of each, whether it be exercised in daily living or in theological and historical studies” (UR, 5). No one is excused from the task of aiding in the restoration of unity within the body of Christ.
At the heart of the Catholic Church’s commitment to ecumenism is the acknowledgment before God of:
- our need for inner conversion. The ecumenical formation of the Catholic faithful holds as a primary duty our own careful and honest appraisal of whatever needs to be done or renewed within the Catholic household itself. “All the faithful should remember that the more effort they make to live holier lives according to the Gospel, the better will they further Christian unity and put it into practice (UR, 7).
- our need for God’s grace to desire the unity willed by God in the way that He wills it. In praying for Christian unity we acknowledge that unity is a gift of the Holy Spirit and not something we achieve through our efforts.
Our experience at Blessed Hope Communications, Inc. is that the body of Christ grows in unity as we worship God, love one another, and care for the marginalized. Pope Francis uses the phrase “walking together, praying together and working together”.
Those who direct and carry out the mission of Blessed Hope Communications, Inc. have personally witnessed the work of the Holy Spirit in and through many brothers and sisters in Christ. By sharing our Christian lives with other Christians, by praying with and for them, and by giving common witness to our Christian faith through action, we are seeing signs of the growing unity which is the Lord’s desire for his Church.
Help is Needed
We humbly request your help in addressing the great need to share the blessed hope more widely in the Church and to build relationships with brothers and sisters of other Christian traditions and streams in the body of Christ so that, with one voice, a united Church raises its voice and cries: “Come, Lord Jesus!”
No Donation is too small
Remember what Jesus did with five loaves and two fish in John 6:1-13.
Please remember us in your prayers.