Thread by @jdflynn

The Church's communion is a communio of faith, governance, and sacraments.

We worship God together, profess one creed, and submit to the authority of that Church.

I have rarely been in a Catholic context in which that communion isn't strained.

But that shouldn't surprise us.

Each baptized person is tempted in different ways, is disordered in different ways, is flawed, broken, or malformed in different ways.

We each need God's sanctifying grace and abundant mercy in a way particular to our own brokenness.

And each of our sins is an obstacle to ecclesial communion.

So throw us into engagement w/ each other, and it's going to be a real freak show, to use a theological term.

The critical question is whether there's a common commitment to ecclesial communion, and how to get there

I mention this because there is a tendency in ecclesial conversations to "other" the problem-- to extrapolate ourselves from challenges to Christian unity.

"If only those people would..."

And those people should be admonished, exhorted, held accountable. But so should I.

I'm just realizing that unless I approach these issues with humility, I am as much an obstacle to Christian unity as anyone else.

And, guess what-- humility doesn't come naturally. So maybe this thread was just a personal exhortation, but it might have application for you too.