A friend of ours recently attended a Catholic conference in beautiful
surroundings and with excellent teachings. When Charles asked him
what had been the highlight for him, he said that it was the blessing
that he had received during the distribution of the Eucharist. He
attends Mass regularly with his family, although he is not a catholic,
so he could be said to be a connoisseur of blessings – and this
was one of the best he’d ever received. I must confess that the
quality of blessings one receives does vary considerably.
The priest who blessed him had a truly ecumenical heart, and that
makes a difference. My friend said that you can tell a lot about a
person by the blessings they give and this priest totally accepted
him as a brother.
To be truly ecumenical is quite rare, I think. Most of us say we
are, but underneath the surface we do not really accept people where
they are with God. We have a sneaking feeling (hope) that, one day,
they will see the light! Much of this arises because we do not know
or understand what they believe. Sometimes we feel they don’t
understand and accept us, so why should we bother? We need to bother,
because God wants His children to love each other.
It’s important to remember that God loves all His children
– He has no favourites. If we want to work with our brothers
and sisters we need to accept them just where they are. We don’t
need to agree about everything – what family does? But we do
need to trust them and get to know them better. It is often easier
to stay within our own groups instead of venturing out to try and
break down barriers – especially if life is pretty hectic anyway!
I believe the Lord wants to bless all the things in which we are
involved for Him. But if we work with other Christians across the
great divide and encourage each person in total acceptance, Charles
and I have found, the blessing increases immensely.
Being part of a large family is wonderful – it would be a pity
not to know our relatives! (Thinking of our natural families might
not be a helpful analogy – you might not want to see some of
your relatives all the time! – but when it comes to brothers
and sisters in the Lord, I think He’d like us to meet them as
often as possible.)
Sue Whitehead
