Diverse Unity

But I tell you the truth; it is expedient to you that I go; for if I go not, the Paraclete will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you" (John 16:7)

A reflection from Father Tudgay for the Solemnity of Pentecost.

What on Earth is diverse unity? It sounds completely contradictory, doesn’t it? Yet, a theological fact that we hold true is that each human person is uniquely created in the image and likeness of God. Each and every person is unique and unrepeatable, a gift. Why diverse unity? The uniqueness of the human race is precisely what reveals its inchoate beauty, to be refined and revealed through our interaction with one another. In a secular sense, the revelation of this unique beauty may be difficult to apprehend. In faith, however, the Church’s mission of the redemption of the human race takes shape through each and every individual who is brought to faith in Baptism. And from Baptism and Confirmation, the gifts of the Holy Spirit are poured into the hearts of believers who, according to our vocation, are called to be the salt, light, and leaven of Christ in this world. 

This weekend, the Church celebrates the conclusion of the Easter Season with the Solemnity of Pentecost. The fulfillment of Christ’s promise that, after ascending to the Father, that the presence and reality of their love and communion would be given to those who followed Christ. Each of the Apostles, not a uniform group at all, each received their portion of God’s life and, in fidelity to Christ’s command to baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, went out and drew a diversity of people to faith in Christ. 

The very same Spirit given to the Apostles is the very same Spirit that you and I received in the Sacraments of Initiation. The diversity of the human race, symbolizing its beauty, is drawn into the unity of God’s own life, which is the foundation of our redemption. The unity that we experience, one disciple to another, isn’t founded on any shared ideology or consensus, but God’s own life. The diversity of the Church’s mission to redeem the human race is drawn from the gift of the Holy Spirit who is given to us.