22 June 2023 - Thursday of the 11th week in Ordinary Time - Yves Congar - 2 Corinthians 11:1-11

      We have been hearing from the 2nd letter of St Paul to the Corinthians in our first readings at daily Mass for the last two weeks. At the time St Paul was writing this letter, he realized that the community in Corinth was drifting away from the true faith and that there was no longer a strong sense of unity among them. Paul tried to draw them back into the true teachings of Christ, trying to bring them back to the message that they originally heard, which Paul says is the true Gospel.  That is what I like about having our lectionary of daily and Sunday readings. If I had to choose what to preach on each week, it would be easy to concentrate on what was comforting and easy to understand.  However, sometimes the message of the Gospel is indeed radical or something we struggle with.  It is easy to label each other in society; we can see a great division, polarization, and disunity in many facets of our society, particularly in politics. In the Church, it is easy to label a priest or a parishioner liberal or conservative. But the beauty of our faith is that we all have different gifts to bring.  We all have different experiences and different outlooks.  If we would journey together and learn from each other, trying to be true to the message of the Gospel and to forge ties of unity and solidarity, what wonderful seeds we would be sowing in our Church. Think about how we can work toward unity in our parish and our Church, and how we can stay true to Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

      As we hear St Paul call the people to unity and wholeness, we remember French Dominican priest and theologian Yves Congar who died on this day in 1995.  Congar was one of the most influential theologians of the 20th century, having been named to the preparatory commission of the Second Vatican Council by Pope John XXIII. During the council itself, Congar was a member of several key committees, helping compose and edit eight major documents.  Some Church historians believe that it was Congar’s book True and False Reform in the Church that inspired John XXIII to call the Second Vatican Council. Congar concluded his study by declaring that the surest way to bring about real reform in the church was through an ecumenical council. However, he had also been under heavy church discipline because of his involvement in ecumenical activity with Protestant churches.  In fact, all of his books published after 1950 had to receive Vatican approval prior to their publication.  It always seems that Church reformers are under scrutiny by Church authority and are suspected as wanting to undermine the Church.  However, after the council, he was held in high regard and was made a Cardinal by Pope John Paul II a year before his death.  As we remember Yves Congar today, let us get thanks for the courageous Bishops, theologians, and Cardinals who participated in the Second Vatican Council and who led those reforms in the Church.