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In
today’s gospel, Jesus prayed, “May they be one, just as we are.”
Notice how this prayer emphasizes unity, whereas we live in a
culture that emphasizes diversity and, because we do, diversity
feels all so “natural” and “liberating,” while unity feels all so
“unnatural” and “restrictive.” Diversity emphasizes differences and
values liberty—“to be me”—while unity emphasizes commonality and
values obedience—“to commit myself to something bigger, greater, and
more enduring than me.”
To
get a sense of this culture in which we find ourselves, consider how
most, if not every young adult today believes it is their
unquestioned right to chose a spouse. These young adults think “I
know best who that person should be.” Many of us also know what
happens when we happen to voice a contrary opinion—whether solicited
or unsolicited, it matters not—about the choice of spouse a young
adult has made.
Now, contrast that idea with how repugnant and abhorrent many, if
not every young adult today would find the idea of an “arranged
marriage” where one’s parents pick a spouse for their child. “How
can my parents possibly know who’s right for me?” those young adults
would ask incredulously.
Now, let’s also add to those considerations two facts:
1.
Given the percentage of failed marriages among young people
today, are they really as capable—as they
“feel”
are—of making a good decision about a choice of spouse? The data
suggest the answer to that question is an unqualified “No.”
2.
Is it not true that, if a young adult’s parents truly loved
their child, those parents would do everything humanly possible to
find the absolutely best spouse for their child? The answer to that
question is an undoubted “Yes.” But, might the data might be
different, namely, less divorce? Who’s
to know, since young adults today won’t even countenance the idea.
The point I am making is not that arranged marriages should be
normative, but that we live in a culture which so emphasizes
diversity and liberty and so completely rejects unity and obedience,
that it is difficult, if not impossible for most of us to appreciate
how blind we have grown. We neither understand nor do we appreciate
what “authentic diversity” is as well as how important “unity” is.
So, in light of Jesus’ prayer in today’s gospel about “unity,” let’s
consider what “authentic diversity” may be spiritually and
what this may mean for us today as Jesus’ disciples.
First:
by definition, diversity is all about “differences”
while unity is all
about “oneness.”
No
doubt about it: differences abound across the globe and in our homes
as well. There are gender differences. There are differences in
talent and ability, in age and temperament, and in interests and
attitudes as well. Likewise, there are differences in race and
socio-economic background as well as in religious and political
views.
In
and of themselves, none of those differences are either good or
bad. They are simply differences.
Problems arise, however, when we emphasize those differences
because, rather than celebrating those differences and how they
potentially can enrich all of us, those differences become
distinctions by which we classify and categorize people and, based
solely upon those classifications and categories, we judge other
human beings as “more” or “less” worthy. Then, too, those
differences can be used to legitimate
as “rights” what
are not rights at all.
This is how diversity undermines and ultimately can destroy unity
because it zeroes in on and emphasizes multiple points of
difference.
In
contrast, unity doesn’t deny differences but, instead views them as
making unique contributions to and necessary for building up and
enriching the community. In a family, for example, there’s a Mom
and a Dad. Neither is the other and neither can replace the other.
This difference enriches the family as each parent makes her or his
unique contribution to and builds up the family.
Family members
normally don’t focus upon these differences, but they are very
real. Yet, unless Moms and Dads are both obedient to what being a
family requires of each of them and, instead, as Moms and Dads
emphasize and seek the fulfillment of their distinctive differences,
it is quite understandable how and why turmoil is sure to ensue in a
family and why there are so many divorces today.
What, then, is “authentic diversity”?
Second:
Authentic diversity is the integration of individual
differences
in a community where the flourishing of the individual
is discovered in obedience to the community
and the flourishing of the community
is discovered in the liberation of the individual
as member of the community.
This sounds paradoxical, but it really isn’t.
Consider an “authentic marriage.” This is a marriage where each
spouse’s differences are integrated into the marriage unit so that
the flourishing of each spouse is discovered in obedience to the
marriage and the flourishing of the marriage is discovered in the
liberation of each spouse within the marriage. Most marriages with
problems and those that end in divorce evidence at least one spouse
who is disobedient by prizing one’s freedom without considering
one’s responsibilities.
Consider also an “authentic family.” This is a family where
individual differences are integrated into the family unit where the
flourishing of each member is discovered in obedience to the family
and the flourishing of the family is found in the liberation of each
member within the family unit. Most families with problems have at
least one member who is disobedient by prizing one’s freedom above
one’s responsibilities.
This helps to explain why authentic diversity requires a vision, a
goal, or values that unite diverse people, thus creating a bond
within which each person discovers his or her place inside within a
community of people who share a similar vision, goal, or values.
Then, as this unity becomes stronger, not only is each person
challenged to become more obedient to that vision, goal, or values,
but each person is also liberated to become more fully one’s
unique self as a member of the community.
Or, as Jesus prayed to his heavenly Father, “to be one just as we
are.”
This powerful idea illuminates the many problems unleashed in
marriages, families and cultures which worship “false
diversity.” With no shared vision, goal, or values to unite very
diverse people, individuals stake out and protect their territory.
They value themselves as supremely important. They view other human
beings as means to their personal ends or as potential rivals or
threats to those ends. In the end, there is no truth, as
everything is a
“preference”
specified by one’s differences...no “e pluribus unum.”
In
today’s psalm response, we said:
The Lord
is my light and my salvation;
whom should I fear?
The Lord is my life’s refuge,
of who should I be afraid.”
This act of faith identifies our source of unity: it is the Lord,
who is our light, our salvation, and our refuge. The Lord has
created us in brilliant diversity and when our shared desire is “to
dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of our lives,” this is
how our diversity becomes a source of strength rather than discord,
for example, in marriages, families, and cultures where diverse
individuals are of one accord with the mind of God.
We
will never be fully of one accord with the mind of God until we
learn to pray to “be one, just as we are one.” It is only when we
become obedient to God’s will that we will not only find our source
of unity but also our place in life.
This is
a spiritual matter of such vital importance in our culture today
that it raises a question which spouses and family members must
answer as an examination of conscience:
How
often do we pray that we “may be one, just as Jesus and his heavenly
Father we are one”?
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HOMILY
