Talk on Health & Healing, at Wells Cathedral

28 April 2008

When I look around I often see people who are fearful and wounded but also a community of hope. What brings about that hope is an encounter with Christ. Pope Benedict said Christianity is not an ideology, nor a set of rules but rather an encounter with Christ and all that follows from that.

One of the consequences of an encounter with Christ, is the realisation that division amongst people is contradictory to the Gospel – both division within communities and between communities. That doesn’t mean there cannot be differences in communities and between them but it is recognising that where those differences are seen as gifts, community is strengthened, where they are seen as obstacles they become divisive and harmful, even scandalous to the mission of the Church, which is to build community to enable communion. This is not a sociological idea but a theological idea because every single human being is called into the life of God, which is the life of a community – Trinity. Moreover every human being is made in the image and likeness of that community God.

The recognition that everyone is of equal dignity and value is important to the building up of community and the healing of wounds.

In the book “Bury the Chains” by Adam Hochschild, we hear how such men as John Newton, a professed Christian could contemplate the Scriptures and pray while beneath him slaves were chained up like animals, being given no dignity. The only way to understand this is that the slaves were not regarded as equal in dignity, but as cargo, property, to enable the work of the plantations especially the sugar plantations in the Caribbean. Today there is still a slave trade, and a trade in human trafficking when human beings are exploited by other human beings with a total lack of regard for their well being.

Earlier I spoke about encountering Christ and not knowing what will follow. We can never foretell where Christ is going to lead us, and lead us along paths which at first we may be reluctant to travel. But along those paths we know the Lord is with us and on those paths we will meet others who will enrich us.

One of the paths is the Dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the World Methodist Council. There are other dialogues going on between Christians such as the Dialogue between the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church but I mention the Methodist/Catholic dialogue not so much from what it said – and it has said many fine things – but because of the process it adopted in the dialogue.

From the beginning there was the recognition that God is at work in the world through these Christian traditions. The Church is essentially missionary as an “agent” of God’s loving mission to our world. Rather than beginning with difference, the dialogue was and continues to be seen as an “exchange of gifts”. That was the starting point and though it seems very simple, it had profound effect upon those engaged in the dialogue.

The two traditions have not always seen each other as “gifts to be shared”. There has been in the past suspicion, hostility and even question as to whether each was authentically Christian.

Listening to one another’s story and listening to how each body understands discipleship and the purpose of the Church, a realisation has grown of how Catholics and Methodists can enrich one another while still acknowledging that there are difference in teaching and practice but there is much which is held in common. Wounds have been healed and fear dispelled. Relationships have been strengthened and the Mission of the Church as an instrument of unity and peace has become more credible. This has been an example of the meaning of dialogue. To quote John Paul II “Dialogue is not so much an idea to be studied as a way of living in positive relationships with others”.

This learning to live in a positive relationship with others is not just about relationships with fellow Christians but also with people of other religions and none. It is also learning to live positively in relationship to the environment and the whole of creation.

Ecumenism is not an option but an essential part of the Christian Gospel. That is something our encounter with Christ has made clear.

Inter-religious dialogue is also not optional but is part of the vocation to be the Church in a pluralistic society, where communities can live in fear and suspicion about one another and where wounds can go deep. Inter-religious dialogue is there to heal wounds, dispel fear and build up positive relationships.

In the work of Inter-religious dialogue the Roman Catholic Church recognises the uniqueness of Christ as the saviour of the world but also recognises that our knowledge of God revealed in Christ and the Spirit can be deepened through discerning God’s presence and activity in other religions. Those engaged in dialogue need to be deeply rooted in their faith and have a clear understanding and a commitment to it if they are to make a genuine contribution to dialogue.

Dialogue is said to have four forms:

A – the dialogue of life, where people strive to live in an open and neighbourly spirit sharing their joys and sorrows, their human problems and preoccupations.

B – the dialogue of action in which Christians and others collaborate for the integral development and liberation of people.

C – the dialogue of theological exchange, where specialists seek to deepen their understanding of their respective religious heritages and to appreciate each others spiritual values.

D – the dialogue of religious experience, where people rooted in their own religious traditions share their spiritual riches, for instance with regard to prayer and contemplation, faith and ways of searching for God or the Absolute.

True dialogue leads to peace. There arises a mutual respect and trust amongst people, all of whom are made in the image and likeness of God – all of whom are called to share in the life of God.

The world’s religions can offer to humanity a message of hope and healing. They can work for the common good and the health of society.

Looking around I see a wounded humanity but those wounds can become marks of triumph. Jesus appeared to the disciples who were hidden behind locked doors because they were afraid. He showed them his hands and his side. And he said to them “peace be with you. As the father sent me so am I sending you”. Christ came with a message of healing so too do Christians through the power of the Holy Spirit working in and thorough them in creating a new world.