The Eucharist realizes the unity

"I appeal to you, brethren, by the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no dissensions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment" (I Cor 1,10).

St. Paul addresses his faithful in the first letter to the Corinthians with these words and expresses his great anxiety for the unity of the Church, showing to be perfectly in agreement with Christ. As a matter of fact, the last Jesus' wish before his death was: the unity of his faithful, as we read in the eleventh verse of the seventeenth chapter of St. John: "Holy Father, keep them in thy name, that they may be one, even as we are one".

In one of the latest biblical catecheses the bishop pointed out that, unfortunately, this great Christ's wish was not satisfied. The Church founded by Jesus began its walk united, but in the history it experienced deep lacerations in its inside that gave rise to christian confessions different from the catholic one and they gave up much of what the Lord left and taught us.

St. Ignatius from Antioch did a marvellous matching between the unity of the christians and the unity of the eucharistic bread: "As the eucharistic bread was first divided into many grains that, after being amalgamated, formed an only bread that then becomes Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ, in the same way the christians, even if different, must not be divided, but led again to be part of the unity of Christ's mystical body".

The bishop explained that the Eucharist realizes the unity, It is not only its symbol, because It is presence and action of God. Moreover the Church in its different christian confessions can regain the originary unity only through the love and a deep faith in the Eucharist.

Nowadays we hear about the reunion of the different Churches; this is not realized thanks to the men, but through the intervention of God who touches and converts the hearts. Wherever is the Eucharist, there is unity and the great miracles happened in the thaumaturgical place are an extraordinary witnessing of this. Since the eucharistic miracles, even those happened in the presence of few people, have an efficacy that passes all limits, we must infer that, only through God's action, the men convert and return to an only fold with an only shepherd.

The bishop underlined that the great Paul's anxiety for the unity of his faithful has always been present inside him, since the moment of his conversion, when on the way to Damascus Jesus dazzled him and said: "Paul, Paul… why do you persecute me?". Paul had been a persecutor of the christians, so he had persecuted Jesus himself, because the christians are united and are one and the same with Christ.

Since its foundation the Church has met many persecutors, at first the pagans, who were then replaced by the different authorities. Nowadays the world of the atheists opposes the Lord, but unfortunately the christians were persecuted also by their own brothers who had authority in the Church, as happened to St. Joan Arch and Padre Pio, who were condemned by the ecclesiastical authority. The bishop affirmed with strength that it is an aberration asserting that God afflicts his friends using the human wickedness. The Lord can call a soul for a mission of suffering, but He does it on his own initiative, He doesn't need the sins to cause the suffering of his faithful. Causing unfairly the suffering of a brother is a serious sin because is not observed the great commandment of love and charity left to us by Christ. Jesus asks to love those who cause our suffering, that is not to have a grudge against them and wishing them the evil, but this doesn't mean that one day they will not be the object of the divine justice.

We are called to love and defend the unity of the Church through our personal commitment; we can realize this unity by living in the grace of God, because when we are in a state of sin we are separated from the Lord and our brothers, we are barren and dry branches that cannot bear any fruit.

Let's quote the bishop's words: "It is important that we cooperate through our personal commitment to increase the grace and the holiness of the family, community, parish or particular church to which we belong. Our growth in holiness is an advantage and a strengthening that concerns all the Church. The more we become holy the more there is incitement, light, strength, example and witnessing for the others. If we really love the Eucharist and our brothers we cannot be unarmed and unmoved before splittings and divisions. Like Paul we also can affirm that nowadays Christ has been divided, because He is persecuted by his faithful. He is dismembered by the divisions caused by the men for their own interests, for having power and money. In the history every splitting originated from the sin: pride, haughtiness, lie and avidity. The division opposes God, those who unfairly pierce through an innocent and dismember a soul from the mystical body of Christ they oppose Jesus' plans of salvation and work for splitting the Church. Let's remind that bringing even only one soul back to the Church means working for its reunion".