In the previous article, we confronted the critique of a hope that is predominantly individualistic, excluding a sense of being a part of a community and seeing salvation as something private. In this next paragraph, Pope Benedict offers a few different sources which support the consistent view that our hope is necessarily social in nature. He writes the following:
Consistently with this view, sin is understood by the Fathers as the destruction of the unity of the human race, as fragmentation and division. Babel, the place where languages were confused, the place of separation, is seen to be an expression of what sin fundamentally is. Hence “redemption” appears as the reestablishment of unity, in which we come together once more in a union that begins to take shape in the world community of believers. (SS 14)
As Christians, we must always avoid the temptation to fall into a sense of isolation, believing that this journey of faith is a solo enterprise. From the beginning of Creation, the Lord said: “it is not good for man to be alone.” (Gen 2:18) Since God Himself is a community of persons in the Trinity, and given that we are made in His likeness, then we too are called to see our identity as necessarily social in nature.
In the quote above, the pope mentions how sin works against the unity of the human race. There is a danger in considering this on too universal of a level. We should take this to heart as we consider our own individual sins. Perhaps we think that some of our sins are really only hurting ourselves. But every sin that we commit, no matter how private, always affects the rest of the community. As St. Paul writes: “If one member suffers, all suffer together.” (1 Cor 12:26) With that in mind, we should be very eager to repent of our sins as quickly as possible, not just for our good, but for the good of the entire body, for our being reconciled with God affects the strength of the body. By avoiding being reconciled to God, avoiding His mercy, perhaps under the mindset that our sins are just that, our own personal sins, then we deprive the rest of the body from flourishing and making progress toward our common goal of Eternal Life.
As we enter into Holy Week, let us be very aware of our union with our brothers and sisters throughout the world and throughout time. We are all united in the fact that “all have sinned” (Rom 3:23), and therefore we all should feel responsible for contributing to the sufferings that Jesus underwent. But, thanks be to God, through His Passion that He underwent for all sinners, ourselves included, He has made possible our being reunited as brothers and sisters through the grace of His Resurrection. His victory strengthens our identity as His Chosen People, delivered from slavery, and destined for the new Promised Land that awaits us in Heaven.
I would highly encourage you to consider joining us for as much of the Pascal Triduum as you can, for immersing ourselves in these most sacred mysteries of our salvation along with our fellow pilgrims, we will be renewed in our awareness of the blessing of being members of the same body, and rejoice with the words of the Psalmist: “Blessed the People whose God is the Lord” (Ps 144:15)