Today, I find myself very saddened and very disappointed by the fact there were many Christians throughout the world celebrating “Reformation Day” on Sunday, earlier this week. This day marked the 505th anniversary of the time in 1517 when Martin Luther, a Catholic religious monk and priest, nailed his 95 theses to a Church door in Wittenberg Germany. Luther’s 95 theses were a set of theological propositions that primarily dealt with indulgences, purgatory, and the pope’s role with respect to the two that he presented for academic debate. And long story short, this simple act by Luther is seen as the beginning of the Protestant Reformation Movement, which led to the split of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church, that is the Catholic Church. This split brought about the formation of the many other Christian denominations which we have today. 45,000 different Christian denominations to be exact (according to the Center for the Study of Global Christianity). And like I said before, all this division and diversity amongst Christians and Christian denominations today is seen by many as something to be championed and celebrated.
Now I don’t think Jesus is sitting up in Heaven this week celebrating Reformation Day rejoicing over the division of his Church into 45,000 different little sects. For Jesus didn’t pray that we would be 45,000 different “Christian” churches but rather he prayed that we would be one Church. Jesus prayed that we “may all be one, just as you Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me that they may become perfectly one” (John 17:21-23). Now notice that Jesus in this short passage prayed 3 times that we, his people, his Church would not only be one just like God is one in Heaven but also perfectly one! Thus Jesus in his divine wisdom foresaw this division and plurality of chrisitian denominations we are experiencing today as a big problem and not as something to be championed and celebrated. But rather it is something that should cause us Christians great pain and sadness.
But now where do we go from here? Well first and foremost, Jesus is our example in all things, thus we like Jesus must pray that his Church may be perfectly one as He and the Father are one. And two we must recognize that the main problem is that all the little doctrinal differences we have amongst the 45,000 denominations are not insignificant. We cannot all be right and they all cannot be true.
However the good news is that Jesus guaranteed to give his one Church the Spirit of truth, the Holy Spirit who will guide us into all truth (John 16:13). And Jesus also built his one Church upon the solid rock of St. Peter when he gave him the keys to the kingdom and said: “The gates of Hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). And the very beautiful thing is that God has kept his word and his promise. The one, holy, catholic and apostolic church which Jesus Christ instituted with St. Peter 2,000 years ago is still alive and well today. The keys to the kingdom which Jesus handed to St. Peter, the first Pope, have been preserved and handed down throughout the centuries to our modern day pope, Pope Francis. In other words, the Catholic Church with apostolic succession can trace her roots from Pope Francis all the way back to St. Peter and all the other apostles. And no other Christian church or denomination can make that claim. Therefore, the Catholic Church by the grace and power of the Holy Spirit has maintained the unity and oneness which Jesus prayed for. And all of us Catholics, Jesus and myself included, are ready and waiting for you 45,000 other Christian denominations to come home so that we all may be one as Jesus prayed we would be.
