The Challenge of Facing “Otherness”.

As I prepare to be part of the ecumenical service at the Salvation Army Citadel this Sunday January 31, 2010 I have reflected on the challenge that continues to face us – Christian Unity.

Despite a lot of glib rhetoric to the contrary - most of us claim to accept otherness and difference – the deeper reality is different.

The Catholic Church itself – never mind the other Christian churches – is hampered in the work of the Gospel because of the polarization between what we refer to as “right” and “left’ in the church. It cuts across every parish. That can bring healthy tension but unless handled in a mature manner can be destructive and impede the work of building up the Body Of Christ.

Father Timothy Radcliffe in his book “What’s The Point of Being Christian” dedicates two chapters to this polarization and offers thoughtful solutions. He maintains that we Christians stopped talking to each other at the time of the Thirty Years War (1618-1648)!!

David Tracy, the eminent intellectual, submits that perhaps the biggest challenge confronting us today is that of facing our differences, of accepting, truly accepting, otherness. This challenge confronts us at every level: social, political, cultural, moral, religious.

In this challenge to communicate with “the other”, Father Ron Rolheiser reminds us that God is “The Other”.

Father Leo Byrne