What constitutes a
community of faith?
The prophet
Ezekiel did not have an easy time of it.
Made watchman over the Israelites in exile, Ezekiel is charged with
keeping an eye on the behavior of his people, letting them know if they slip, warning the wicked, trying to turn him from his way.
Ezekiel isn’t responsible for the people’s behavior, but he must do all
he can to encourage them to pursue right relationship with God, for the
Israelites constitute one community of faith; they enjoy one common identity
in God. In his letter to the Romans,
Paul likewise reminds the early Christian community of the centrality of
relationship, albeit in slightly different terms: love
one another, he tells them, for love
is the fulfillment of the law. The Roman
community of faith is charged with looking to the needs of those around them;
they are called to be kind and generous as they live the Gospel. In the end, their relationship with one
another is, for Paul, a strong indicator of the relationship they have with
God.
Our communal
identity is in Christ. When we recognize
that our identity is not me and you and you but all of us together in Christ, then Christ Jesus is present
among us: For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the
midst of them, Jesus tells his disciples in Matthew's Gospel.
Jesus calls the disciples to be aware of this communal identity, to foster
a communal consciousness. We naturally are called to do the same. But how do we build our faith community or
foster a shared consciousness? Well, the
first rule is, we love one another,
all the while holding ourselves to the same standards to which we hold one
another. For Jesus’ salvation will only
be proclaimed through our love for one another – not through our arrogance, or our
self-righteousness, or our sense of being right. If we are, as Psalm 95 states, the people he shepherds, the flock he
guides, then as one flock, as a
community of faith, we must strive always to be conscious of the needs of
others and committed to love for one another, thereby proclaiming that love to the world.
This post is based
on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: Wordle
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