The fourth address began by quoting an early Christian theologian who said, a single Christian is no Christian. Our need as bishops is to be in council with other bishops. We’re called to live in community and to live in communion.
The very challenging suggestion the archbishop made was to identify one other bishop about whom one feels nervous, and ask that person to pray with you. It was a very powerful challenge to us to work to restore wounded communion.
He also said the Gospel is only truthfully spread by those who are in communion.
This has been a spiritual feast and I think the right and proper grounding for the weeks ahead.
We must pray without ceasing and pray for and with one another. But we cannot pray our way out of the basic theological differences. It will be no help at all to have bishops return to the same theological unrest having said “We prayed for and with one another and it was proper grounding.” I don’t feel proper grounding as long as we continue to live in improper theology. Communion implies truth; is it possible for communion to be a substitute for truth? I think we see it cannot be. Under normal circumstances, the retreat idea is crucial. However, without dealing with the acts of division and bonding with common agreement, retreat is just a mere time away doing very little if anything for the communion.
The Gospel is only truthfully spread by those who BELIEVE it and the message of the Gospel, not those who think it changes for every generation.