Given on Sunday 13th January at St Columba's Church of Scotland, Pont Street for the start of Christian Unity Week.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, dear friends,
How good it is to be with you in this week or octave of prayer for Christian unity. I am mindful of a friend’s advice when speaking of any subject. The Quakers (and Cistercians) have a saying. “Something has to be pretty good to replace silence.”
My parents and grandparents, who were forbidden to enter each other’s churches or pray the Our Father together, would be amazed or amused, to say the least, to see us gathered here today. Today in this church of St Columba we gather to worship God, reflecting on a call that is at the very heart of our faith: Christian unity. Thank you for the invitation.
This unity is not merely a lofty ideal; it is essential for fulfilling Christ's mission in the world. As St Pope John Paul II emphasized, the unity of Christ’s disciples is a condition for effectively proclaiming and consolidating faith in Him – Jesus. When we stand united, we bear witness to the love of God revealed in Christ, and we fulfil the prayer of Jesus, who asked the Father that we all may be one, so that the world may believe. We recognise today that we share real, if imperfect, unity.
Today we have had proclaimed, listened and, I hope, received the moment captured in the Gospel of Luke, the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist, a key moment that marks the commencement of Jesus' public ministry and highlights the significance of our own baptism.
In the Gospel of Luke, we find John the Baptist preaching a message of repentance, calling the people to prepare their hearts for the coming of the Lord. The atmosphere is charged with expectation; the people are wondering if John might be the Messiah. This context is crucial as it sets the stage for the revelation of Jesus as the true Messiah, fulfilling the prophecies and the hopes of the Biblical Jewish people. John’s role is not simply to baptize but to point to the one who is greater than himself, the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire.
Baptism, as we know, is a sacrament of initiation in the Christian faith, symbolizing purification, rebirth, and the beginning of a new life in Christ. When Jesus submits to baptism, He does not do so for the forgiveness of sins, as He is sinless. Rather His baptism signifies His full identification with humanity and His mission to redeem us. It serves as a model for all believers, emphasizing the importance of humility and obedience to God's will.
The descent of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus during His baptism is a pivotal moment in the Gospel. It is the anointing of Jesus as the Messiah. The presence of the Holy Spirit emphasizes divine approval of Jesus and His mission to bring salvation to humanity.
Pope Francis beautifully articulates this moment, stating that at the banks of the Jordan, the entire Trinity is present: The Father, who speaks; the Son, who is baptized; and the Holy Spirit, who descends like a dove. It is clear that the infant Church grew in their understanding of the activity of the Spirit and the need to make more explicit recognition of that action, as seen in our readings from Acts.
In this moment, the voice from heaven declares Jesus as the beloved Son: “Thou art my beloved Son; with thee I am well pleased.” This profound affirmation of Jesus' identity and mission connects to the theme of Divine Sonship, which is central to Christian theology.
It reminds us that Jesus is not only the Son of God but also the one who invites us into a relationship with God the Father. This declaration is not just for Jesus; it resonates with each of us, calling us to recognise our own identity as beloved children, daughters and sons of God.
As we reflect on Jesus' baptism, we are invited to consider our own baptism and the call to live as children of God. This moment challenges believers to embrace their identity and self-understanding as beloved sons and daughters of God and to actively live out their faith in the world. Our baptism is not merely a ritual; it is a commitment to follow Christ and to embody His love and grace in our daily lives.
We have not always understood each other’s approaches to the language of baptism. In recent decades, important progress has been made in our mutual appreciation of each other’s convictions, language and misunderstanding as to the meaning of baptism, both as communities and individuals.
Since 1977, a series of Joint Commissions on Doctrine has involved representatives of the Church of Scotland and the Catholic Church in Scotland. The fruits of this dialogue can be seen in joint documents and statements reflecting on a consensus around the ecclesiological significance of the Sacrament of Baptism. In September 2005, the members of the Joint Commission happily took the opportunity to hold a final meeting of this phase of talks between the participants in Rome.
I want to mention the remarkable and truly historic agreement entitled the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification by the Lutheran World Federation and the Catholic Church, signed by Lutherans and Catholics on the 31 October 1999, in Augsburg, Germany, resolving divisions on the “basic truths” of salvation as a free gift from God.
And one only has to read the Ecumenical Policy available on the website of the Church of Scotland, agreed in 2018, which commits the Church of Scotland to encouraging churches at local, regional, national and international levels to act together, most recently the St Margaret’s Day Declaration 2022 made in the presence of the Princess Royal at Dunfermline Abbey. This declaration of the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of Scotland recognised our common heritage that the Gospel brought to our shores so very long ago. We recall those from that time who led and formed the Church, nurturing a society inspired by Christian values, including St Ninian, St Columba and St Margaret.
We recognise the hurt and the harm that our forebears did to each other in times past, and we repent and ask forgiveness of one another. Acknowledging what separates us still, we reaffirm that what we hold in common is often greater than what divides us. Whilst recognising that unity does not mean uniformity, we commit ourselves to continuing our pilgrimage towards greater unity.
Every person’s Baptism is a call to respond to the Lord’s call - a call, an invitation to live in a way that reflects our relationship with God. That we have come to recognise each other’s baptism as sisters and brothers in Christ is a remarkable achievement. It is a gift.
Unity is a gift and also a mission that Jesus entrusts to us. It is through our unity that the world will recognise the truth of Christ's love and His divine mission.
"Divisions among Christians prevent the Church from realising in practice the fullness of catholicity." This division not only contradicts the Will of Christ but also scandalizes the world, making our proclamation of the Gospel less credible. The call to unity is a call to action; it invites us to overcome our differences and to work together in love and service, reflecting the unity that exists within the Holy Trinity.
Our unity can be a powerful witness. When we act together for the common good and seek to serve those in need, we demonstrate the love of Christ in action, fulfilling His commandment to love one another.
In our daily lives, the call to unity challenges us to seek reconciliation and understanding with our fellow Christians. It invites us to engage in dialogue, to listen, and to learn from one another. Each of us has a role to play in fostering this unity, whether through prayer, acts of kindness, or participating in ecumenical initiatives.
You may well know that this year is a Jubilee Holy Year. What would our great-grandparents think of that? Pope Francis opened the year and the Holy Door before midnight Mass at St Peter’s in Rome. The theme of the year is “Pilgrims of Hope.” A hope that does not disappoint.
“Together in Hope” was also Pope Francis’ theme at World Youth Day in Lisbon last year. During the Pope’s sermon, he quoted a French author, Charles Peguy, who wrote of Hope as a little sister who accompanies her two older sisters Faith and Charity.
Almost unseen, Hope, the little one, walks beside her two older sisters. It is she, the little one, who urges the other two on. Because Faith only sees what exists, and Charity only loves what exists. But Hope loves what will be and makes them all walk together (The Portico of the Mystery of the Second Virtue).
He concluded by telling the young people that hope is humble. “It is a virtue that is built up day by day through the Spirit who encourages us to pay attention to little things.”
We are the planters of the seeds. The harvest is the Lord’s. We can pray with and for each other, imploring the Holy Spirit to stir up afresh a spirit to warm our lukewarm hearts and enlighten our poor vision.
We can and do travel together as pilgrims in a Church which is compassionate, humbled and renewed.
Our first duty is the worship of Almighty God. If we can be faithful to that; the Lord will lead us together as friends and pilgrims of hope to unexpected and new pastures.
Image: Mazur/cbcew.org.uk