{"id":351,"date":"2012-03-17T12:41:07","date_gmt":"2012-03-17T18:41:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/?p=351"},"modified":"2019-10-24T15:17:41","modified_gmt":"2019-10-24T21:17:41","slug":"the-false-unity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/the-false-unity\/","title":{"rendered":"The False Unity","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

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IF<\/strong> the prayer and desire of Jesus is that “they may all be one” (John 17:21)<\/em>, then Satan too has a plan for unity\u2014a false unity<\/em>. And we see the signs of it emerging. What is written here relates to the coming “parallel communities” spoken of in\u00a0The Coming Refuges and Solitudes<\/a>.
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\nTRUE UNITY\u00a0<\/p>\n

Christ prayed that we would all be one:<\/p>\n

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…<\/span>by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind<\/span>… (Phil 2:5)<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"\"What mind? What love? Of what accord? Paul answers it in the next verse:<\/p>\n

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Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who… did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant…<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The mark of Christianity is love<\/em>. The apex of this love is self-denial, a kenosis or emptying of self for the other. This is to be the mind of the Body of Christ, a unity of service<\/em>, which is the bond of love.<\/p>\n

Christian unity is not one of mindless submission and conformity. That is what a cult is. As I often say when I speak to the youth: Jesus did not come to take away your personality<\/em>\u2014He came to take away your sins!<\/em> And so, the Body of Christ consists of many members, but with different functions, all ordered toward the goal of love. Difference<\/em>, therefore, is celebrated.<\/p>\n

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…the Apostle is eager to communicate… the idea of unity among the multiplicity of charisms, which are the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Thanks to these, the Church appears as a rich and vital organism, not uniform fruit of the one Spirit, who leads everyone to profound unity, because she welcomes differences without eliminating them and thus bringing about a harmonious unity.<\/strong> \u2014POPE BENEDICT XVI, Angelus, January 24th, 2010; L’Osservatore Romano, Weekly Edition in English<\/em>, Jan. 27th, 2010; www.vatican.va<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In Christian unity, all is ordered toward the good of the other, either through acts of charity, or by adherence to the natural and moral laws as revealed to us through creation and in the person of Jesus. Thus charity and<\/em> truth<\/a> are not and cannot be divorced, for they are both ordered toward the good of the other. [1]<\/sup><\/a>cf. At All Costs<\/em><\/a><\/span><\/span>