Pentecost 2017

We hear it frequently asserted that Pentecost is the birthday of the Church. If it is, then it is also the birth of the community which very soon in the ancient city of Antioch would be called Christian. The Spirit, the community and the Church, themes of Pentecost, are clearly reflected in the Apostles' Creed which professes a belief in the "Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church and the communion of Saints".

Even though this event signals the birth of the Church, it was not something that happened out of the blue. This is because salvation history is at the same time a pilgrimage of freedom. A link can readily be established between the Pentecost we celebrate and what took place at Mount Sinai. At Sinai, the journey of freedom that had begun with the Exodus ended on the mountain when the Lord gave the community of freed men and women the Law which determined their individual freedom. In the context of both the newly founded Church and Christian community, this individual freedom is now strengthened with the gift of the Holy Spirit.

It might be profitable to reflect on how the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Trinity, animates the Church, the Body of Christ as it is relevant in a world that seems to have elevated freedom as an individual property whilst forgetting its communal implications. 

Firstly, one of the many gifts of the Holy Spirit is the healing of the breach brought about by Babel where the two sins of pride and self-sufficiency resulted in discord and division. With the Holy Spirit, the breaking down of frontier or borders is always at the service of the common good. One cannot get more communal than the Catechism's rich description of the Communion of Saints as a "sharing of holy things amongst holy people".

Sadly, our notion of the frontier is mostly conceived of in terms of the individual. Freedom is defined as one's right with regard to individual expressions and often at the expense of the whole. An amnesia regarding freedom is that we have forgotten that "shared" freedom is always a freedom with individual limits. Therefore, Pentecost as the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles is ultimately the feast of love--love for God and for others. The Spirit is never a spirit of the "self" that is overly concerned with "individual" freedom. The word "individual" is a relational term because one is an “individual” in relation to the "community". Freedom is always at the service of the community. What is to be understood as "There are many gifts but always the same Spirit" is that all the gifts of the Spirit are gifts for the good of the whole, that is, the Body of Christ.

Secondly, nothing of what Jesus taught will be lost. He gave the assurance that the Holy Spirit will be the guarantor of His teaching. This guarantee of authenticity binds the Spirit TO the Church. Here we encounter a truly troubled notion that many have of the Church. "I love Jesus but I do not need the Church" or "I am spiritual but not religious" are two examples of the predicament that the Church is undergoing. The hierarchy especially, suffers from a crisis of credibility. This is more so after the exposure of the cover-ups of scandals. As a result, we have a credibility-deficit generation espousing a common assumption that the content of a message is equivalent to the credibility of the messenger. As long as someone is not credible, what he says is often discounted as true. A good example of this is when the Prime Minister of a particular country speaks, almost everyone will, except the “gullible[1]”, immediately equates whatever he says to be lies. Conspiracy theories sprout most easily in this integrity-deficit soil.

But, the Church is important because she alone enjoys the guarantee of the Holy Spirit, a guarantee which gives rise to the three properties of the Church: her authority, infallibility and indefectibility. These properties are necessary because the Church, born on Pentecost, through the Holy Spirit, is the continuation of the mission of Christ in reconciling the world to the Father. In fact, the magisterium and the sacraments, through the Spirit, find a direct link back to Jesus Christ.

However, the mission of Christ is in jeopardy because, for some reasons, the link between the Holy Spirit and the Church seems to be have been severed. When the Holy Spirit is no longer bound to (not by) the Church, it is easy to forget her divine pedigree and therefore the mission entrusted to her. Instead, like any social organisation, our task will always be to "update" her so that she can serve whatever criteria that are current. When the Church's mission to evangelise is no longer her raison d'être, then evangelisation will simply be reduced to one of her many ministries. When she cannot conform to what is demanded outside her mission, she will be labelled as "staid" or conservative for want of a better word. And, those who dare believe that the Church has a duty to pass on the deposit of the Apostolic faith in its entirety will be looked upon as “rigidists” or “restorationists”.[2]

If the goal of Christ's mission is liberation, then freedom is for us to worship the Father in Spirit and in truth. But, here we are, lie-weary, disinformation-wary and transparent-hungry. To speak of an institution[3] capable of Truth is too good to be true. Catholics themselves do not believe that this is possible[4]. Top that, enlightened western Europe has proudly proclaimed herself, if not in words, then in actions, as post-Christian and therefore, post-Church. In a Trump post-truth presidency, it would appear that truth serves at the pleasure of power. He who has greater control over the media will have a greater truth. How can the Church carry out her mission to evangelise when the belief that she alone possesses the pledge of the Holy Spirit has been subverted?

Man is created with this hunger for what is enduring and true. Wikileaks and Edward Snowden's disclosures of classified information reveal to us that man can never run away from his vocation which is to worship freely in Spirit and in truth. Without any guarantee that Truth can be arrived at, "truth" will effortlessly resort to subjective feelings and this usually means being "true" to what one feels. However, the objectivity of truth can be gleaned from this example. I feel murderous. Does it mean that to be true to myself, I need to murder? We all know this to be a rubbish example and we arrive at this knowledge because we instinctively recognise that there is a standard or benchmark which beckons us to live up to it.

Where do we find this standard? Is it sufficient that every religion holds a particular standard? If that were true, then every religion is no more than an individual writ large meaning that we are no better off than what we have now: "atomised truth" where everyone believes it is enough that what is true is true for himself. What if everyone in a particular religion believes that it is morally right to kill those who do not share its beliefs, do the many who hold that belief make it right? Where is the objectivity? The question again comes back to this: Is it true and if it is, where is our guarantee that it is not just subjective to an individual or even to an aggregation of individuals?

There is one entity which alone can guarantee the objectivity of truth--the Church. Uncomfortable as this may be to hear, all salvation comes from Christ through the Church which is His Body (CCC 846). Thus, the Church is mission, the Church is evangelisation because, despite her failing members, she alone possesses the pledge and promise of the Holy Spirit. Contrary to conventional wisdom, obedience to the Church does not endanger individual freedom. Instead, it enlarges individual freedom so that it is no longer slave to individual selfishness but serves the common good.

Jesus came to liberate us so that in freedom we may pursue the good of heaven. But, if freedom were just restricted to claiming what is accrued to me, the individual, then the Church mission ceases to make sense. The conflicts between the so-called “liberals” and “conservatives” are mainly attempts to define “tribal” freedom. Furthermore, if we observe both post-Christian Europe and the post-truth America, they both share one common goal and that is, the creation of greater happiness through 1) the tolerance of religious freedom, 2) efficiency in governance and transportation and 3) education through arts and sciences. But, they have forgotten that earthly contentment as a goal and a common good is merely a foretaste of the beatific vision—a vision made possible through the Church's evangelising mission, which is to proclaim the Gospel of salvation and not just “individual” freedom, good as it may be for human flourishing.

Pentecost is a reminder that the visible mission of Jesus Christ is now continued by the invisible mission of the Holy Spirit through the Church. If we are serious about eternity, then it is to this Church that we must closely cleave to. Aptly, in describing the unity of the Church, St Cyprian reminds us that, one cannot have God as Father without having the Church as mother. Holy Mother Church is the only institution animated by the Spirit who guarantees that she will always remain the Sacrament of Salvation and that the freedom we seek is to fully embrace the gift of salvation for the life of the world to come.

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[1] I purposely include the clause “except the gullible” because there is a dictatorial “wisdom” that condemns anyone who dares to stand apart from it. Liberalism likes to present itself as champion of the rights of the minority against “customs, prejudices, superstitions and taboos”, but in itself, it is also tyrannical when it comes to enforcing its dictates. A good example of this is political correctness which sets the boundaries of acceptable speech and opinion. Anyone who does not subscribe to this ideology will be labelled a bigot, a hater, a racist or definitely a “phobe” of some kind.

[2] The Holy Spirit is supposedly unbounded. He is not even “bound to”, let alone “bound by” the Church. Thus, unconventional behaviour in missiology will be canonised as maverick creativity whilst obedience will be demonised as confounding the work of the Holy Spirit. In other words, the Magisterium, the hierarchy and the Tradition are often portrayed as the “enemies” of the Holy Spirit.

[3] Anything which smacks of “establishment” cannot be trusted to be truthful.

[4] There is perhaps an anthropomorphic transference whereby our fallibility is transferred to the Holy Spirit. Gender ideology takes a position against the anthropomorphic association of God with gender and yet here we are, transposing our human weakness unto the Holy Spirit. 

7th Sunday of Easter Year A 2017

Catholics are, in general, regarded as less of being Christian than being superstitious. According to 1 Tim 2:5, there is only one mediator between God and Man and He is Jesus Christ. And Catholics do not seem to grasp that because the contour of their religious horizon is outlined by so many devotions. We pray through Mary and on top of that, we also go through the saints. Furthermore, what is this preoccupation with novenas?

There are so many novenas and the one distinguishing mark about them is the figure of nine. For example, the Simbang Gabi, a novena much loved by the Filipinos and takes place nine days before Christmas.

According to the Catholic Encyclopaedia, "the simplest explanation of the Christmas novena is the nine months of Christ in the womb. But for every novena of preparation, as also for every novena of prayer, not only the best explanation but also the best model and example was given by Christ Himself to the Church in the first Pentecost novena. He Himself expressly exhorted the Apostles to make this preparation. And when the young Church had faithfully persevered for nine full days in it, the Holy Ghost came as the precious fruit of this first Christian novena for the feast of the establishment and foundation of the Church".

Perhaps the Proddies were right about this. Like the encrustation attached to a sunken ship, we fail to appreciate what we have for what it truly is. Today is the 3rd of the Novena to the Holy Spirit. Just like the "disappeared" 7th Sunday of Easter when replaced by the Ascension, for many of us, these nine days between Ascension and Pentecost count for nothing. 

Why?

Within a Pelagian framework, notably in a self-made, self-help, self-actualised cosmos, the notion of a "deity" is almost redundant. God for us has truly become "Emmanuel" in the fullest sense of the word. It means that we want a deity distant enough not to threaten us with his demand but proximate enough to accede to our every desire. Is it any wonder that many novenas are organised along the themes of intercessions, petitions and favours? If God exists, He serves a purpose in my existence--to canonise me as the centre of the universe.

The Gospel though, provides a purpose that far exceeds one's mundane needs. But, before we delve into what that aim is, it must be stressed that our needs, are not bad in themselves, because one should avoid any whiff of Gnosticism whereby the material world is rejected. Hence, petition is an accepted form of prayer as suggested by the Pater noster: Give us this day our daily bread.

Even though we are encouraged to seek, what we ask for should always coincide with what the Lord intends to give: eternal life. One of the most precious gifts, blessings or possessions and certainly more desirable than wealth, is health. If one does not visit a hospital, especially a subsidised one, one would never think that there are that many people who are sick. Perhaps it explains why Lourdes as a place of pilgrimage is infinitely more popular than Fatima since the intent of bathing in the waters is asking for cures of all kinds. We desire health in order to enjoy wealth and if judged by the number of movies centring on the theme of immortality, we would like to live forever. Like 50 is the new 30 or life begins at 70? But, the purpose of eternal life is not to live forever. Instead, eternal life consists of this: to know the one true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent.

Knowledge is the basis for eternal life. Unfortunately, in a knowledge-based economy, knowledge is regarded as power. According to this reckoning, the more one knows, the more powerful one can be. If you think about it, WikiLeaks and espionage are both battlegrounds for knowledge--that he who controls the flow of information has greater power. However, knowledge in the biblical sense is not the amassing of facts or figures or even making connexions between the conspiracies we have. Instead, knowledge points in the direction of relationship, as in, when Adam knew Eve, she conceived and gave birth to Cain. This knowledge of God is relational rather than intellectual for it bids us enter into the full acknowledgement of who we are and who God is. It is a recognition of our status as creatures--In Him we live, we move and have our being—who are dependent on God.

These days between the Ascension and Pentecost are not simply passing days but truly a time of preparing oneself and waiting for the coming of the Spirit. They also put into perspective the way we have conceived of novenas so far. Instead of an exercise to gain God’s favour, the investment of time in pray is for the human will to bend and fit itself into God’s plans.

In terms of waiting, for a generation easily distracted by mobile devices, it can be excruciating. This is exacerbated by the expectation that the world revolves around us. Thus, we easily forget that waiting is built into the status of dependency. Like a lover waiting for the beloved, we wait for the Lord so that our hunger can be deeper and our reception richer.

If the eternal life given by the Lord is premised on entering into a relationship with Him, then like Mary and the 11 in the Upper Room, we follow them in prayer. Instead of the usual asking for God to answer our prayers, perhaps it is good to implore the Lord to grant us the gifts of the Spirit--wisdom, understanding, reverence (traditionally known as piety), knowledge, right judgment (or counsel) courage (or fortitude), and a sense of wonder and awe (otherwise called fear of the Lord)--so that we can enter into a deeper and more loving relationship with Him.