"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.."
(Matthew 11:28-30).
Here in the Cathedral of Saint Matthew, we are an ECUMENICAL community of Faith. Everyone is welcome, we make no difference. Our community comes from many rich and varied backgrounds. As an ecumenical church, we are exhorted to have a deep love and appreciation for the diversity of all of us. We need to be fascinated and curious about that which is different. Our invitation is to look outside of our provincial perspective and open ourselves to a bigger picture; there is a whole big world created by God. Ecumenism is a way of living, which dares to think globally and live trustfully with differences in community. The God we believe in invites us to be ONE, in spite of our differences. Let’s all pray to begin avoiding any expression, judgement or action that falsifies the condition of people who are different from us or have different believes. Ecumenical honesty means that we do not judge others because of their weakest elements, or ever-generalize their positions with statements like, ‘that church is false, “…that group is not good,” “…that people is not praying right,” “…that church is not valid.”
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free,
there is neither male nor female: for ye are all ONE in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28
What advances the reign of God in any church helps all churches. The churches are not like competing corporations in the business world, so that the stakes of one rises as the lot of others falls. Any loss of divine truth and life is a loss to Christ and his Church. The only triumph a Christian seeks is that of Jesus and his cross. Our rivalry is not with one another, but with sin.