Our political, social, ecclesial and often even our family lives seem divided and fractured these days. What the church puts together in a seamless way — respect for human life at every stage of development or vulnerability, justice for the poor and the migrant, condemnation of oppression and violations of human and religious freedom, the rejection of violence as a means of solving conflicts — fits into no political platform. Many seem purposely to create division or exploit divisions already separating people. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead, celebrated during the 50 days between Easter and Pentecost Sunday, is the antidote and the cure for the present impasse that destroys lives and separates people; but living with the risen Christ in the universal kingdom of God entails a huge shift in perspective, a displacement of the horizons that form habitual ways of living and thinking.
Living in the kingdom of God means thinking beyond and outside the boxes created by citizenship in a nation, by cultural or racial exclusivity, and by individual choice. In the kingdom of God, divisive markers are not needed to establish identity. There are neither countries nor national citizenship; there is no separation caused by different languages, no marriage and giving in marriage, no personal dream or individual choice not perfectly conformed to God’s will. To live even imperfectly in God’s world, in the new world made possible and available by Christ’s resurrection from the dead, we must therefore sacrifice ourselves and forgive others.
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