Pope Francis, has made it clear. He will continue the work toward the day when the two lungs of the Church, East and West, breathe together again
On March 20, 2013 Pope Francis addressed the ecumenical guests who had attended his installation. He began with warm words to the Orthodox brethren, specifically addressing Patriarch Bartholomew, "First of all, heartfelt thanks for what my Brother Andrew told us. Thank you so much! Thank you so much!" The two had met in a private meeting. The Patriarch of Constantinople expressed his hope that the two could meet in Jerusalem later this year and issued an invitation of historic significance.
Patriarch Bartholomew and Pope Francis
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CHESAPEAKE, VA (Catholic Online) - First, I want to share my heart with my readers. I long for the full communion of the Orthodox and Catholic Church. I pray daily for the full communion of the Orthodox and Catholic Churches. I do so because I believe it is the will of God that "All May be One" (John 17: 21).
I am also persuaded that the healing of the division between the two sister churches would unleash a profound renewal of the entire Church at the dawn of this new missionary age. I believe that the gifts found in the whole Church will enrich both East and West and assist us in the One mission which we must face together in our One Lord.
I believe that as the West implodes under the fierce ravages of what His Holiness Benedict XVI called a Dictatorship of Relativism it is only the fullness of truth revealed in Jesus Christ which can save the West from its own demise. The West needs the Church, in the strength of its full witness, East and West, to become its soul in an age which is lost because it has lost its moral compass.
As a revert, one who returned to my Catholic faith as a young man, I walked the way home by way of the early Church Fathers. Had I not had been baptized a Catholic of the Latin Rite; I might have become an Eastern Christian. As the decades of my life have unfolded, including my theological studies and ordination to the Order of Deacon, my vision and theological viewpoint have become profoundly Eastern. So too is my worship. I have long prayed with icons and love the Divine Liturgy. However, I cherish the unity that comes with the Chair of Peter.
Let me be clear, I am deeply and happily ensconced in the Roman Catholic Church. I am glad that I have authorization to serve the Divine Liturgy of the Eastern Church. For a number of years I had the privilege of regularly serving the Divine Liturgy and I miss it. I love the Liturgy, East and West, however I find the depth of the Mystery is beautiful captured in the Liturgy of the East.
There is a Latin maxim that addresses the centrality of worship in the life, identity and mission of the whole Church; "Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi, Lex Vivendi". It means that the law of prayer or worship is the law of belief and the law of life. Or, even more popularly rendered, as we worship, so will we believe and live!
Worship is not an add on for a Catholic or an Orthodox Christian. It is the foundation of Catholic and Orthodox identity; expressing our highest purpose. Worship reveals how we view ourselves in relationship to God, one another and the world into which we are sent to carry forward the redemptive mission of Jesus Christ. How the Church worships is a prophetic witness to the truth of what she professes.
Good worship becomes a dynamic means of drawing the entire human community into the fullness of life in Jesus Christ, lived out in the communion of the Church. It attracts - through beauty to Beauty. Worship informs and transforms both the person and the community which participates in it. There is reciprocity between worship and life.
Finally, I long for the full communion of East and West because my oldest son is an Orthodox Christian. He, his wife and their children are all practicing Orthodox Christians. The more I visit them these days the more I appreciate the beauty of the interweaving of faith and life which comes with Eastern Christianity and its practices. Yet, the more painful our separation at the Altar, the Eucharistic Table, also becomes. I believe the pain gives me a glimpse into the very heart of the Lord who longs for our unity.
So, I watch for every sign that the two lungs of the One Church are beginning to fill with the one breath of Divine Life, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit alone can animate the One New Man, Jesus Christ, to heal the division which has gone on for too long in His Body. I watch with the eyes of living faith. Some say I see these developments with "Rose Colored glasses". If I do see through the color of rose, it is because the color symbolizes the hope which comes from faith in the Resurrection of Christ Jesus. It is also because of my bedrock conviction concerning His one plan for His One Church.
The move toward full communion between the Orthodox and Catholic Churches is prompted by the Holy Spirit. I maintain it is the most important development of the Third Christian Millennium. It has extraordinary implications for the West, indeed for the whole world, at a critical time in history. I believe it will continue and result in the healing of the wounds which for too long have separated the Church. I believe that Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew have begun to travel down the road together.
http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=50211&wf=rsscol
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