Coming together requires meeting in unity of faith
“Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell in unity” (Ps 133).
Of course, “unity” does not mean “sameness.” For a bunch of people to be doing all the same things and thinking all the same thoughts strikes me as cultish and creepy. Unity requires some things to be the same, while allowing diversity in others, so that “the variety within the Church in no way harms its unity; rather it manifests it” (Vatican II, Orientalium Ecclesiarum).
So we have things that ought to be the same and things that ought to be diverse, which begs the question: “Which things are which?”
Presumably the Ephesians had a similar question, as St. Paul sent them a short list of things that we are all united in. One body (the Church), one Spirit (the Holy Spirit), one Lord, one Faith (every doctrine the Church teaches as necessary for salvation), one baptism, one God and Father of all.
As we are called to walk together, a revitalizing of those things that unite us seems in order. Do we submit to the authority of the Church? Do we know and believe every doctrine the Church teaches, and order our lives, actions and words accordingly?
Do we pray regularly and generously, for love of God, even when it is not pleasant or easy? Do we allow that prayer to deepen, and obey when God calls us to act or change?
Coming together does not require sameness, but it does require a common meeting place: in “the unity of faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God” (Eph 4). – Amanda Olmsted, Hampton
Pope, bishops should demand ‘clean’ vaccines
As a Catholic, I was initially wary of the COVID mNRA shots due to the use of aborted fetus cell lines to either produce the vaccines or test the vaccines. The Holy Father said the sin of abortion that created these cell lines was enough removed that all Catholics should have no issue with receiving the shots.
My response to that is why haven’t our hierarchy demanded that the pharmaceutical companies produce clean vaccines to begin with? This is not a question of technology. The ability to produce vaccines without aborted fetus cell lines existed before the use of these lines came into vogue.
As a mother and a human being, why do we have to choose? Our pope and our bishops should demand that vaccines for all diseases as well as the shots for COVID be clean.
My other question with the COVID shots specifically is the way these shots override the natural immune response in our bodies. Unlike previous vaccines, now the spike protein is artificially produced to fight the virus while other components to a natural immune response are inhibited to a degree. This seems to override God’s design for our immune system.
These current shots do not work like vaccines used to. The polio vaccine never resulted in someone still getting polio a few months later and then passing polio onto others. The solution is now to take more shots for a virus that is 99% survivable. Who is really benefiting? Who is liable for ill effects? – Amanda Keller, Richmond