The 1st Reading begs to differ. In no uncertain terms does it warn that everyone is responsible for everyone’s moral well-being. Present social convention dictates that one should mind one’s own business and not be bordered by another’s person’s unwashed linen. The stark contrast is how fearful we have become of what the Gospel tells us to do. If your brother has done something wrong, go and have it out with him alone, between your two selves. It is a call to correction.
Perhaps, we are not that special and the wall of irreproachability is merely a smokescreen. We celebrated almost exactly a month ago the feast of St Dominic, founder of the Order of Preachers. He faced a formidable foe, a herd of heretics, called the Albigensians or the Catharis. A usual approach we are accustomed to when dealing with wrong is to invoke the might of right—a right derived from the possession of truth. It is basically described by “I am right and the only choice you have is to change”.
Well, change was certainly the goal to accomplish for St Dominic but the method was not the invocation of right. Rather, St Dominic followed the truth with humility and the power of persuasion was derived from charity. The previous attempt by Pope Innocent III to convert the Albigensians was to send in the Cistercians monks. They were unsuccessful because the Albigensians were already so ascetical in their lifestyle that there was basically nothing the Cistercians could point to in the Catharis’ lives that showed them to be morally corrupt. Of course, the Cistercians were not corrupt either but they failed the test of credibility because their way of living was not ascetical enough.
St Dominic went in with two tools. Firstly, he met the Albigensians where they were. The Dominicans were ascetical because they lived simply and that made them more credible to the Albigensians. It was Dominic’s way of going down to the level of those with whom he intended to enter into conversation.
Secondly, the Albigensians were interested in the imitation of God’s perfection. While that may be noble desire but it was impossible simply because perfection has always been God’s gift to us. When the Lord created the world, it was “perfect” but that did not mean that it bore the quality of eternity. Even the most perfect creation, in this life, under the regime of time and space, will have to “suffer” an end. In other words, creation has an expiry date. Hence, the Albigensians, though they wanted to be perfect like God is, went about the wrong way.
St Dominic converted them not through the condemnation of their “wrongness” but through charity, that is, love, he slowly changed their vision. The first community he founded at Prouille was in fact for the nuns and women who have returned to the Church so that they could be cared for. He gained greater credibility simply because he was a man, who before he spoke of God, he spoke to God. It was this kind of intimate knowledge that gave his words greater impact.
In a world which has witnessed so much of contradiction, credibility is possibly the only weapon we have against disinformation or misinformation. Both the Great Wars, I and II, were conducted under the aegis of “rationality” meaning that humanity has never been more rational or reasonable and yet, against reason, we went to war. Then, time and again, those with power, namely governments or those who were in government, under the auspices of the common good or the protection of the citizens, were found wanting for they lied and lied and lied. Even the most benevolent governments routinely lie to their citizens. Time has passed enough for us to look back at how the powers-that-be have behaved during the Pandemic. Remember the elites who ruled and yet their behaviour was perfectly captured by the slogan: “rules for thee but not for me”. What is even more blatant was not that we were educated and persuaded to the good of the measures taken to protect the public but instead the citizen were either guilt-tripped or shamed to behaved according to the dictates of the establishment.
More and more credibility is the only weapon we have in order to preach or be able to preach convincingly. An important distinction needs to be noted though. The truth of a position is independent of a person’s moral status. As the saying goes, even the devil can speak the truth. Just because we do not like a person, it does not mean that he or she cannot utter something which is true. But having said that, what is clear is that the preacher’s credibility is truly dependent on his personal moral uprightness. As Paul VI in “Evangelii nuntiandi” reminded us "Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses”.
The lesson today is that we must care for each other’s moral future. The wall of irreproachability or unteachability is not because people refuse to hear. They simply cannot hear because their faith and goodwill to change has been abused by those who preach one thing but behave otherwise.
There is an innate search for the good in all of us. Like the Albigensians, some of us might be misguided. Still that does not negate our search for the good. What happened is that repeated failures in expectation has made our listening so much more difficult because we are incapable of dealing with the constant barrage of propaganda or doublespeak especially from the powerful elites. The reassuring news however is that despite our wounded expectations, Christ has never abandoned us. He is present to us in His Church. Notwithstanding the frailty of her sons and daughters, the Church remains the only sanctuary where we can reliably hear the authentic voice of Jesus Christ. To be able to hear Him, many of us need to humbly dismantle the barrier that we are beyond reproach because pride can easily imprison us from hearing truth. We can do it if we cleave to Christ, hold on to His Church for in Him and His Church we can find the common ground of credibility and charity in our care and concern for each other’s moral good and eternal salvation.
