Not too long ago, there was a story that was making it around Facebook.  Apparently, there is an initiative to break the Golden State into six pieces. 

Now of course, when I heard this, my first natural reaction was like, “a la horcrux?”  Is there some amazing spell out there that a wizard can point at the State and boom!  Then I thought of…well, I shouldn’t tell you what I was thinking.  More about the initiative can be found on the info site.

Anyway, there is this initiative proposing to split up the State.  And if you look at the you would easily recognize that California will be split up, basically, by culture.  The Bay, SoCal, Central Valley, etc.

Now, before you think that I am going political, don’t click away yet. What I find interesting is that it is easy to walk away from that which you oppose.  Politically, Fresno is very different from San Diego, and San Diego is pretty different from Sacramento.  Yet we are all part of the same State of California.

In the Church’s life, it is easy to walk away from that which you oppose.  It’s easy to try to find “the liberal parish” or “the conservative parish” or “the novos ordo parish” or the “Tridentine parish.”  Life is very easy if you surround yourself with the people that share you own views, especially if they are of a religious nature.

Yet our tradition is riddled with opposition within our own ranks.  The Acts of the Apostle testifies that the first fight we had to figure out was about the Gentile Christians—do they get circumcised?  Can they be Christian without being first Jewish?

Then there was Arianism (which we still fight today).  Is Jesus fully divine and fully human?  What does this mean for the Holy Spirit?

What about Mary’s role in the Church?

…and let’s not even think about thinking about women in the Church.

It’s easy to walk away from that which we oppose.  It’s easier to split up the State of California, or found your own Ecclesiastical Rite or crown your own Pope.

World Youth Day, Rio

Yet we are the Body of Christ and individually members of it. 

In our own Church wars, it is very difficult to remember our fundamental values.  It’s easy to get wrapped up and start hating on each other when it comes to who ought to get ordained, or married, or which social issues we ought to support or condemn.  Yet if we would first remember our fundamental values first—the values outlined in the Nicene Creed—we would be pretty well off.

We are first united by the Blood of the Lamb of God.  This ought to be our first and foremost concern.  It’s okay that we have our disagreements, but let us first remind ourselves what keeps us united.  Let us remember He who calls us and asks us to be His own.