Neal Judisch’s post on Wednesday, September 30 was post number one hundred at Called to Communion. I would like to take the occasion of reaching this auspicious number to reflect upon the first seven months of our new venture. By “our,” I am including everyone who reads, comments and writes at CTC.

First of all, thank you. Your participation in this project is allowing it to become what it is supposed to be: a challenging and mutually enriching conversation. The whole point of this endeavor is to help bring about full communion between Catholic and Protestant Christians. Of course, we (Catholics and Protestants) have different ideas about how that might happen and what form it need take. Nevertheless, it is vitally important to bear this over-arching purpose in mind. If we are not heart-committed to the goal of reunion, then all of this talk is ultimately pointless.

Despite our many differences, I believe that we are here striking a path toward unity. Along this way, we can and should embrace any number of proximate goals. Chief among these is understanding one another. Then there is the goal of finding the courage and humility to celebrate the good things in Christ Jesus that we share in common. And yes, we should have the goal of resolving our various differences through charitable dialogue, including honest argument. This kind of thing can at some times and in some respects be awkward and uncomfortable, for everyone involved.

It is easy, in such circumstances, to take refuge in pride, scorn and indifference, even while we continue to exchange words (which is not the same thing as a genuine conversation). In written communication, particularly of an intellectual bent, pride and scorn can be masked, usually not very successfully, with various displays of wit, or logical and semantic precision (needle-like in more than one sense). Such things can become preoccupations, ends in themselves, which render one indifferent towards the well-being of his interlocutor. We want to be on guard against such things in our conversation here at CTC. To this end, we ask for your prayers and your continued, prayerful engagement in this endeavor.

That being said, I really appreciate everyone who has made an effort to apply the old bean to these topics in an intellectually rigorous manner. With the right intent, this is a form of charity. I have learned a good deal from listening to, and occasionally participating in, the various arguments that have been pursued hitherto. And, of course, there is nothing wrong with either humor or rigor, so long as charity rules.

Finally, I want to direct your attention to a couple of new pages at Called to Communion: the Alphabetical Index and a Note to Our Readers.

One hundred posts is not very many, judging by blogging standards. However, it is enough to make it difficult to remember what has been happening. Blog posts and subsequent discussions have a tendency to disappear, scattering away into various archives. By way of counteracting this sort of dissipation, we have collected every entry at CTC into one page and arranged the entries in alphabetical order. Most people like to get a “bird’s eye view” of things. The Alphabetical Index enables our readers to do just that.

Called to Communion’s fundamental approach to theological issues is to first address foundational matters before moving on to areas of theology that presuppose those foundations. This approach can be discerned in the order and subject matter of the lead articles. In an effort to better express this to all of you, we have added a Note to Our Readers at the top of the main page. This will allow you to see how we are approaching things and what is coming up next. This is a working outline, not set in stone. There may be occasions to publish an article out of order, or to include an article that does not exactly fit into this list. But there is the gist of it.