Saturday, July 17, 2004

Have we not all one father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our ancestors?
(Malachi 2.10 NRSV)
Do you remember when Pope John XXIII was elected to office? He was seventy-seven years of age. He was only expected to be a caretaker Pope, a compromise among the College of Cardinals until a more suitable candidate could be selected. The jolly, rotund fellow was not expected to live long enough to effect much change in the Vatican and the closed Curia. As expected, he only held office for five years, dying in 1963.

Yet, he is regarded as the most influential Pope of the century, for it was he who convened the Second Vatican Council. That Council revolutionized and revitalized the Roman church around the world. "When [people] are animated by the love of Christ," said this beloved Pope, "they feel united, and the needs, sufferings and joys of others are felt as their own." Pope John XXIII transformed and invigorated the church, because he understood that we are all one.

Dear God, help me to build up your people and your church in the one body of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Ron Newhouse

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