We are not far from 2017 and a most significant anniversary in the household of Christianity. On Oct. 31, 1517, in Wittenberg, Germany, an Augustinian monk named Martin Luther published 95 "theses" (debate topics) which signaled the beginning of questioning about certain practices in the Church of that time and what message the selling of indulgences communicated to the faithful about God's gift of salvation.
The questioning of Martin Luther led to the tragic split in Western Christianity known as the Protestant Reformation. As we reach the 500th anniversary of the beginnings of this event, the Lutheran-Roman Catholic Commission on Unity has addressed, through its document From Conflict to Communion, the need for Lutherans, Catholics, and other Christians to engage in a common commemoration of the Reformation.
The Commission makes clear that the observances of 2017 will not constitute a celebration of the division of the Western Church, for there is no joy in the division of the Body of Christ. It will be noted, however, that the half-millennium of reflection upon the issues at the core of the controversy has provided believers with an opportunity to sharpen their vision of the fundamentals of Christian faith.
Reflection indeed bore fruit in the 1999 Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Lutheran World Federation. By this document, both Catholics and Lutherans express agreement on the issue which generated so much heat in 1517. Together we affirm that a believer's justification or "being made right" before God comes from the loving sacrifice of Jesus. In other words, our salvation is a free gift of God, which we do not and cannot earn.
Meanwhile, Pope Francis, on Friday, July 5, published his first encyclical letter, Lumen Fidei (The Light of Faith). We will be hearing and reading a good deal of commentary about this letter to the faithful. For my part, I'd like to offer a brief quote which is of great practical import: "Faith is not a light which scatters all our darkness, but a lamp which guides our steps in the night and suffices for the journey." We may be reminded of the lighting of the Easter candle from the new fire at the Easter Vigil. The light of the candle does not eliminate darkness, but it does transform the darkness so that we can navigate even in the midst of obscurity.
We may not associate writing with summer, but from my childhood I have heard people link quiet summer days with the habit of reading. A quick search on the web will yield the documents mentioned above. May our summer days include time spent with these texts, which help us to fix our aspirations upon the healing of the Body of Christ and the orienting of our world toward the Kingdom of God.