Sunday Reflection with Fr Robin Gibbons - 22 January 2017

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

"Is Christ divided? Who was crucified for you? In whose name were you baptized?' Three of the questions Paul puts to the Corinthians, but they are just as appropriate for each one of us, the more so when we start looking at the way Christianity itself has been fragmented over time! In the week of Christian Unity it is time we let go of our spiritual baggage and travel light, responding to the ever-present call of Jesus to follow him.

However we need to remind ourselves just what road it is that Jesus calls us to travel! It's not some vague spiritual journey, it starts with what he preached, to repent and believe that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand! How can this help us? For me the idea of the Kingdom of Heaven has been a great help in reaching out across denominational boundaries, because it means we have to place the idea of Church in a wider and deeper context than doctrine or practice.

For Jesus the Kingdom of Heaven is like so many things, but all of them challenge the market forces and prevailing winds of human politics, religion and life. In this Kingdom everything is upside down. It is not exclusive but inclusive, here ethnicity nor gender does not matter neither does poverty or wealth, Christ, or rather his body, is not divided but must be united in his love, as Paul puts it in one mind and one purpose, that is to proclaim the Kingdom!

The Kingdom of Heaven is one of the most difficult ideas for us to deal with, because the world's ethics and values and yes sometimes-religious attitudes often clash with Christ's teaching. Humility is a core value of Jesus, especially for any in leadership roles, where to exercise power is to become servant, to be rich is to share, the poor are blessed and most difficult of all, nobody but nobody is excluded from God's love and forgiveness.

Isaiah's vision of the 'people that walked in darkness' is certainly a metaphor not only for the human family but also of creation in general. Light has shone upon us, but not all see that great light of hope, some prefer a more negative image, that of doom and gloom, others don't care because they focus on themselves, yet we as Christians are called to be witnesses to Christ's truth and light. Our prayer is that all may be one!

Prayer of St Ephraem the Syrian 4th C

You have quieted those which were in confusion. Praise to your calmness! O Lord make quiet in your churches; and blend and unite, O Lord, the contentious sects; and still, and rule also the conflicting parties, and may there be at every time one true church, and may her righteous children gather themselves together to confess your graciousness. Praise to your reconciliation, O Lord God.

Fr Robin Gibbons is an Eastern Rite Catholic Chaplain for the Melkites in the UK. He is also an Ecumenical Canon of Christ Church Oxford