I’m late
with the blogging today, as my brain had not quite woken up at the time that I
usually write my blog post (6.30-7.00 a.m., if you’re keeping track of these
things). On Wednesdays we’ve been reading through the Pope’s address to the
Roman Curia from way back before Christmas. People took it at the time as a
stern rebuke to those nasty so-and-sos in Rome; I am taking it on this blog as
a darned good examination of conscience for all the nasty so-and-sos who read
it (and the one who writes it).
We are
getting close to the end of this exercise, with ‘disease number fourteen’,
which is:
The disease
of closed circles, where belonging to a clique becomes more powerful than
belonging to the Body and, in some circumstances, to Christ himself. This
disease too always begins with good intentions, but with the passing of time it
enslaves its members and becomes a cancer which threatens the harmony of the
Body and causes immense evil – scandals – especially to our weaker brothers and
sisters. Self-destruction, “friendly
fire” from our fellow
soldiers, is the most insidious danger. It
is the evil which strikes from within; and,
as Christ says: “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste” (Lk 11:17).
We always
have to watch out, don’t we, for the tendency for the Church to become a club.
For what is meant to be the sacrament of Christ’s presence in the world, his
very Mystical Body operating in time and history, his voice in the voices of
its members preaching the Gospel unceasingly, his hands and feet in the hands
and feed of its members going out continually into the world to do good, his
heart in the hearts of its members continually loving, continually striving to
grow in love, to extend the boundaries of love to encompass the whole of the
human race—for all of that to become a social circle, a guild, a nice little
cozy enclave to feel safe in.
Even more so
can this happen in groups within the Church, be it the parish choir, the altar
guild, the Knights, or (ahem) Madonna House. Every single group in the Church
is meant to be patterned on the whole of the Church, and so is called to that
same expansiveness, that same open door, open heart, open welcome, open arms
reaching out to gather in.
There is no
room for cliques in the Church, but alas they do find their way in, don’t they?
It is perhaps the single great failure of the Church as a body, as a group,
that we fail to maintain that depth of openness and hospitality, inclusivity
and welcome that we truly are called to be.
I realize
that in using the ‘i’ word in the previous sentence, I need to clarify. I would
prefer not to, but such is our confused times. Inclusivity does not mean that
everyone gets to come into the Church and remain just as they are; it does not
mean that the Church ceases to teach what is true and good, as has been
revealed to it from all time by the Holy Spirit in Scripture and Tradition; it
does not mean that we cease to call every man and woman, no matter what, to
ongoing conversion and repentance and heroic virtue.
Inclusivity
does mean, however, a deep compassion for every man and woman as they struggle
with whatever their sins may be. Inclusivity does mean that we are very
slow—very slow indeed, glacially slow in fact—to say to any person “Your sins
are too much for our Church to handle.” Inclusivity does mean that we get over
our squeamishness, our prudishness, our delicate sensibilities and be willing
to get down in the mud where people actually are, not so as to abandon all
notions of purity and get all muddy ourselves, but because that is where people
need to be helped the most.
And
inclusivity does mean a great patience, a great tolerance, a great willingness
to suffer with and for and from the ‘other’, be it someone labouring with some
terrible sexual sins or someone labouring with a bad temper, a miserly purse,
or a rigid harsh judgmentalism.
All are
welcome, indeed. All are part of the Church, indeed. And all are called to die
in Christ so as to be born again in Him, all to be changed by the grace of God,
all to turn away from sin (whatever it is) to be remade in the image of the
Pure One of God, Love Incarnate.
Cliques,
claques, and clubs put an end to all of that, no matter what form they may
take. We are called to Christian maturity, Christian adult missionary and
evangelical responsibility—all of us, lay people, clergy, everyone. And that
call to maturity means embracing deeply and with totality the call to radical
hospitality, outreach, warm personal love for every human being, and to give ourselves
wholly to the mission of the Shepherd to gather all the sheep into the one
sheepfold.
This is our
call, and the way to that call is as near and obvious as the person in front of
us right now who needs our attention and our love. So let’s do that, right now.
At 6:30 to 7:00 in the morning my brain barely registers vertical body position and monosyllabic words! Use to marvel at the morning people that could function so bright, cheery and with 2 or more sparking brain cells, and you write a cogent great blog piece at that hour- wow Fr Denis I salute you.
ReplyDelete(stumbling off to find coffee pot)
Truthfully, it almost mounts to being a demonstration of God's existence - I'm not exactly your morning sunshine smile myself, to be perfectly honest... and yet the words are there, morning after morning...
DeleteHa-ha, that is a honest answer nice to know you aren't floating on the clouds looking like a saccharin image of a cherubim like those paintings that were so popular not too long ago. Yes, it is God's wonderful grace for those words do reach out and touch so many of the reader's to this blog. :)
ReplyDeleteFR DENIS. IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN VERY OBVIOUS TO US FOLKS HERE IN INDIA THAT YOUR WORDS ARE INSPIRED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT...NO ONE CAN WRITE AS YOU DO DAY AFTER DAY DAY AFTER DAY ON TOP OF ALL YOUR OTHER ACTIVITIES IF IT WERE NOT THE LORD USING YOU AS A HUMBLE INSTRUMENT. YOU ARE MUCH IN OUR PRAYERS TO LET THE LORD CONTINUE TO SPEAK AND WORK THROUGH YOUR ANOINTED HANDS AND MIND. THANK YOU FOR BEING SO OPEN TO THE SPIRIT AND GIVING OF YOURSELF FOR OTHERS.
ReplyDelete