Healing the Divide: The Role of Ecumenism in Uniting the Church - June 18, 2023

As I hope you know, this parish is staffed by the Paulist Fathers. For a very long time, one of the major concerns of the Paulists has been the work of ecumenism. Ecumenism is the effort to repair the splits and breaches in the Body of Christ. Catholics, Lutherans, Orthodox, Methodists, Baptists, and many other denominations of Christians call Jesus our Lord and Savior. And Jesus prayed that all His followers would be one (see John 17:20-23). This unity is very important. Our missionary witness is severely hampered by our division into so many denominations. One of the main reasons that Pope St John XXIII called the Vatican II Ecumenical Council was to work to heal these wounds in the Body of Christ. If we were united, we would have a much more powerful impact on the world. And it is Jesus’ strong desire that all Christians be
one in Him.

However, of course, we are all divided into our churches on Sunday mornings. This is a scandal. Unfortunately, we become too used to and uncomfortable with this situation. One of the ways that we at St. Austin work for the unity of all Christians is our participation in the shared ministry of Micah 6. Our parish is one of the founding member congregations of this ministry, which is an organization of University area churches. The name comes from the Old Testament Book of Micah, chapter 6, verse 8: “What does the Lord require of you? To do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.”

I invite you to check out their website, https://www.micah6austin.org/

We also support their works financially, as a parish to the tune of $500 a month. Some of this has come from the Persons In Need collection we take up every month. But to give you a choice in donating directly to Micah 6, and to highlight their good works, we are now instituting an annual second collection specifically for Micah 6. This weekend is the first annual collection for the charitable works of Micah 6. Your generosity in this
collection not only directly feeds the hungry, and reaches out to and feeds street youth, it also continues and strengthens St Austin’s commitment to and participation in the concrete work of ecumenism. So I invite you to please respond generously to this second collection this weekend.

God bless,