If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. Abraham Lincoln famously used this image to describe a United States which was half-slave and half-free. He said that the nation would have to become all one or the all the other. The Civil War resolved that division by eliminating slavery. It is not news to say that we live in a time of division as well — internationally, within the country and even in the Church. The problem we face is that the source of that division is not a clear cut as in the pre-Civil War US. In the Church, for example, there are some quarters which are encouraged by the direction of Pope Francis and others are appalled. The division does not have a clear marker be seems instead to be driven by hope or fear about what will happen next. Instead of Civil War the gospel suggests that engagement, empathy and compassion are what leads to the healing of division.
