{"id":1289,"date":"2016-05-08T10:34:23","date_gmt":"2016-05-08T10:34:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sjcmetheology.wpengine.com\/?p=1289"},"modified":"2016-05-08T10:34:23","modified_gmt":"2016-05-08T10:34:23","slug":"tradition-and-communion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/tradition-and-communion\/","title":{"rendered":"Tradition and Communion"},"content":{"rendered":"

In last month\u2019s post<\/a>, I began by looking at a single word. I thought that I would begin this month\u2019s post in the same vein. Vaguely recalling a line from Sesame Street<\/em>, therefore, \u201ctoday\u2019s posting is brought to you by the word\u201d\u2026tradition. \u2018Tradition\u2019 comes from the Latin word traditio<\/em>, which means \u2018handing over.\u2019 The word \u2018traitor\u2019 also comes from this word; as in someone who \u2018hands over\u2019 things he shouldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

In today\u2019s gospel proclamation (Jn 17:20-26), we get a sense of what has been \u2018handed over\u2019 to us. This passage comes from a portion of St. John\u2019s Gospel known as Jesus\u2019 High Priestly Prayer (Jn 17). This is the prayer that Jesus offers to the Father during the Last Supper and, as Fr. Raymond Brown has noted, Jesus adopts the tone of \u201cone who stands before the throne of God making intercession for us.\u201d According to St. John\u2019s Gospel, these are the very last words Jesus utters prior to his arrest.<\/p>\n

At this crucial moment of Jesus\u2019 life and ministry, he prays for us<\/strong>. We are the ones not present at the Last Supper, who will come to believe in him through the words of others (Jn 17:20). These words, handed down generation after generation, have come to animate \u2013 literally, to \u2018give life to\u2019 \u2013 our faith. And this handing on, this tradition, is of irreplaceable importance; because faith comes from hearing and believing. As St. Paul famously asked: \u201c[H]ow can they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach?\u201d (Rom 10:14). Christians are not formed by nature. Perhaps living in a predominantly Christian culture can help formation, but it certainly does not guarantee it; nor can it replace the personal act of faith. The early Christian theologian Tertullian once wrote that \u201cChristians are made, not born\u201d (Apol<\/em>. 18). And this \u2018making\u2019 begins with faith.<\/p>\n

At some point in our lives, we heard the proclamation \u201cChrist is risen\u201d and we believed. The vast majority of Christians were not like Ss. Mary of Magdala or Peter or Thomas \u2013 he actually got to poke his finger into Jesus\u2019 side! Rather, most Christians have believed because the good news of Christ\u2019s resurrection had been handed on to them. Our faith, therefore, has a mediator. It comes to us through the mediation of the Church. She has handed on the faith \u2013 first in preaching, then also in Scripture \u2013 since the day of Pentecost, and does so throughout the ages.<\/p>\n

\"Caravaggio<\/a>It is for us, therefore, that Jesus prays. And the content of his prayer is for our communion<\/strong>. He prays that his future disciples \u201cmay be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, [\u2026] that they may be one, as we are one\u201d (Jn 17:21, 22). He prays that his entire Church, spread across lands and languages, time and eternity, might be one \u2013 one as God himself is one! Jesus\u2019 prayer for our communion, therefore, is a prayer that we might participate in God\u2019s own Trinitarian life.<\/p>\n

What has been handed over to us is not some sentimental nicety or material benefit, like the recipe for Mama\u2019s sauce or the deed to a house. The tradition we have inherited is that through which we have been joined to Christ by faith. It has formed us into a new people, where \u201c[t]here is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus\u201d (Gal 3:28). It calls us into communion with one another, and into that loving communion which is our Triune God. Jesus himself has prayed for this to the Father; i.e., \u201cthat the love with which you loved me may be in them\u201d (Jn 17:26).<\/p>\n

Anthony Coleman<\/strong> teaches theology for Saint Joseph’s College Online<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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In last month\u2019s post, I began by looking at a single word. I thought that I would begin this month\u2019s post in the same vein. Vaguely recalling a line from Sesame Street, therefore, \u201ctoday\u2019s posting is brought to you by … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[69],"class_list":["post-1289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sacred-theology","tag-communion"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1289\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}