catholicsphere

In Protestant traditions, today is known as Reformation Day. It marks the day, in 1517, when Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the door of a church in Wittenberg, Germany.

Today, there are perhaps some mixed emotions on the matter, since it has led to some better understanding of some doctrines in the Church; but also, sadly, has created divisions between those who acknowledge Jesus as Lord and Savior. In recent years, there have been attempts to reconcile on various matters of doctrine, such as in the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification by the Lutheran World Federation
and the Catholic Church, and statements of Evangelicals and Catholics Together(ECT) (recent statement: That They May Have Life)

Sometimes there is the tendency to “major on the minors”, but there are real and important issues that must be dealt with in order “That they may be one”, as Jesus prayed. It would perhaps serve the Church best to look at what happened on this day with those mixed emotions … “celebrating” it, by praying that we will again be as it was in Acts 2 (having all things in common…), and dedicating ourselves to coming to better understanding of the Truth of God’s revelation to us.

[tags]reformation, reformation day, justification, faith, life, catholic, church, luther[/tags]