Today we cross from having personal faith to its full flowering in the community. Even though faith requires personal commitment, its impact is communitarian. This is where it becomes tricky.
Firstly, for any society to function, there must be consensus as simple as keeping to the left when driving. What happens when someone does not follow the basic rule of law? According to the 2nd Reading, charity (or love) towards another is the fulfilment of the law. To keep the law, we have to be charitable. In the Gospel, this love or charity is expressed through private fraternal correction. We only ask for witnesses if a person were reluctant to change. In the 1st Reading, the focus is on the responsibility of leaders to care for the salvation of souls. Therefore, the Church is involved when we encounter stubbornness.
These days people chafe at the idea of the Church interfering with their personal autonomy when it comes to how they ought to live their faith. This rejection of ecclesial authority is expressed as “spirituality yes” and “religion no”. It means a person has an interior spiritual life but does not want to be associated with organised religion. In other words, faith is reduced to a personal expression without any social connexion.
Such a notion fails to realise that at the heart of religion is relationship. This translates as any functioning relationship that is worthwhile must have rules and regulations. The saying “No man is an island” expresses this profound reality that man has been created for society and therefore the community has a hold on his behaviour.
Many would consider the community’s demands as irksome and constraining because nobody likes to be told what to do. Moreover, the loss of confidence in leadership and in institutions has created a moral crisis, be it in the political, economic or ecclesial sphere. In the case of the Church, her voice is weakened when “preachers” do not walk the talk.
What should we do when the world refuses to listen or be corrected?
We can rule out the Gospel of Niceness. The attempt to be agreeable, pleasant and uncomplicated does not close the credibility gap since it fails to represent who Christ truly is and what He really teaches. The Church has a duty to proclaim Christ and what it means to follow Him. The keys handed to Peter gives the Church power to bind and to loose. Through the exercise of this power, the Church has the authority to absolve sins, to pronounce doctrinal judgements and to discipline her sons and daughters. If we are overly sensitive, any correction will always sound like judgement or even scolding. But to teach, discipline and correct are acts of mercy.
Thus, to be faithful to Christ, the duty of the Church is to speak the truth in an age of disbelief. To do this the Pope suggests more conversation. Through the synodal process, Pope Francis has proposed that the Church enters into a conversation with the world. In this conversation the most important person present is the Holy Spirit. He is promised by Christ to Peter and with Peter’s successors to the Church. There are many issues pressing upon us. Migrants, climate change and identity politics are major concerns. We could focus on these pressing issues and then force the conversation to move in the direction of how the Church should change to accommodate us. But that is not the Synod nor is it the synodal process.
Instead, our conversation should always search for where the Holy Spirit is leading the Church and it may not be what we like or want. Why? The Church is not just the Church now. She is the Church from the time of Christ until now. While change is necessary, it must always be in consonant with the deposit of faith that we have received.
This is not always easy to hear or accept especially for those who have entrenched positions. The ability to speak truth demands that Bishops be brave and so too the priests who assist them. If laying down one’s life is the ultimate martyrdom, then leaders of the Church should never be afraid to speak what needs to be spoken no matter how unpleasant that may sound.
As the process of the Synod involves the Holy Spirit, the fruit of the process cannot be a Church torn apart by internal disagreement. If that be so, then the question arises as to where the Spirit is who unites rather that divides? Or which spirit are we following? A true Synod is a process of the Spirit shining on the truth of Christ through His Church.
In our conversations, what is important is that truth is not a possession we use to silence contrary positions. Instead, truth is a submissive posture because it is being obedient to the Spirit of Christ. The geography of human experiences and relationships is truly messy because everyone feels that he or she possesses the truth. But we might be able to grasp better the will of Christ if we recognise and accept that we are firstly, stewards and servants of truth rather than its masters. Whatever we say or do, we are at the service of truth.
In conclusion, as servants who build up the Body of Christ, the clear boundaries we put up is not because we are exclusive but because we are heading towards heaven. This coincides with the basic meaning of religion which is to tie, bind or align us with God. What unites us is not just love but caritas in veritate, that is, love in truth. We would like to believe that the driving force that binds humanity together is love. One would have heard of the slogan that “love is love” and love is all that matters. And while it is crucial that we solve the problems affecting humanity, it would be myopic to think that the greatest love and service we can show the world is the various solutions to our problems. In the midst of making the world a better place, the mission remains to proclaim Christ to a disbelieving world and one that is marked by the scandal of credibility deficit. Despite these challenges, the task continues that we announce Christ, if not by words, then by the eloquence of our deeds. The greatest love and service that we owe to each other is truth; of who Jesus Christ is and of who we truly are.
