God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. (1Jn 4:16)
Ecumenism is a hot debate, especially in the post-Vatican II world that has been produced. But what is the right way of taking this on? We all want a unified Church, this is true. But how can we ever go about achieving this goal?
First of all, I do not feel educated enough to embark on a debate about which denomination is more right. That is for the scholars. Rather, all I wish is to promote the love of God through my own personal beliefs, guided by the Catholic Church. And hopefully through this others will come to experience the great love that I have and am experiencing every day.
One way of not going about obtaining a unified Church is by slandering another denomination or religion. This semester, on two occasions, I have had people try and beat down Catholicism and my beliefs because they felt they had found the fullness of Truth. But all I felt was serious negativity and near hatred from them. Is this God’s love?
I think Pope John Paul II chose a beautiful way to end his letter on commitment to ecumenism, Ut unum sint. If allowed, I would like to take those words on as my own. He quotes St Paul: "Mend your ways, encourage one another, live in harmony, and the God of love and peace will be with you ... The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all" (2 Cor 13:11,13).
