Fidelity not popularity

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B

There is much talk these days about the spirit of Synodality, that the Synodal way is the way the Church must progress and move forward. One could simply describe it as the culture and attitude of different members of the Body of Christ walking together and attentively and effectively listening to each other. Most people would agree that it is a good thing to have more listening, to have ears closer to the ground, to the real issues and struggles of the people, to be able to empathise with the challenges and problems people are facing.

But there is also much disagreement as to what Synodality in practice entails. There is much misunderstanding as to what is the end game. Someone cynically gave this mischievous definition: “journeying together without a destination.” The concept begs the following questions: Is it a Parliament where people get to vote on critical issues including norms of morality and doctrine? Would sensus fidelium be reduced to public opinion where the position of the majority will rule the day? Is it all about brainstorming ideas and sentiments and then try to merge and synthesise these positions, even opposing ones, into a single all-inclusive corporate mission statement?

The answer to every one of these questions must be a clear and definite “no”! Synodality can never mean a popularity contest, neither can it entail blurring the lines between good and evil, truth and falsehood. The Church does not and cannot march along with the drumbeat of the world. We simply cannot subvert the Church and her scripture and tradition-based teachings, in order to please the world.

Certainly, we cannot ignore the world, and that’s why it’s a mistake to entrench ourselves in the past and enter into a time sealed cocoon, insulated from what is happening around us. However, we must never forget that we are in the world, but we are not of the world. This is what the readings today wish to emphasise. To be prophetic is not just being a contrarian, objecting to every mainstream opinion or dissenting with the establishment. To be truly prophetic means learning to live in the world while not being of the world. It is a call to be faithful to God’s Word while learning to communicate that Word to a world that lacks a vocabulary to understand. It is having our feet firmly planted on the ground but with our eyes constantly gazing heavenward. It is an amphibious existence.

In the first reading, we have the call of the prophet Ezekiel. This serves as a prelude to the gospel where our Lord Jesus likens the people’s reception of Him as how their ancestors treated the prophet. From the very beginning, God is laying out the difficult task and mission of the prophet. A prophet is not simply someone who foretells the future. The task of a prophet is to tell people how God sees things, for the prophet sees things as God sees them. This directness of vision is not always popular, for we don’t always like being told home truths about ourselves. The truth about ourselves is often unwelcomed, particularly when it involves criticism and demands change. But the ministry of the prophet is not dependent on the people’s reception or lack of it but rather on the call to be faithful to the mission which has been entrusted to him by God. As God tells Ezekiel: “Whether they listen or not, this set of rebels shall know there is a prophet among them.”

Our Lord in the gospel also reminds us that we should not expect a warm welcome from those who seem closest to us, especially when we choose to stand by the side of truth rather than along party or sectarian lines. As He so rightly pointed out: “A prophet is only despised in his own country, among his own relations and in his own house.”

As much as we often measure the success of our efforts by the extent of their approval, this should never be our yardstick. When it comes to our Christian witnessing, fidelity and not popularity should be the benchmark. In fact, the more faithful we are to the cause of Christ and His message, the more opposition, ridicule and even persecution would we receive at the hands of our audience. This seems counterintuitive. We would be so much more motivated when we receive positive appraisal from others. But here’s the secret which St Paul shares with us in the second reading - God assures us: “My grace is enough for you: my power is at its best in weakness.” It is for this reason that we can make our weaknesses our special boast and be content with all kinds of hardship because as St Paul rightly puts it: “For it is when I am weak that I am strong.”

Yes, we are called to a Synodal way in which we recognise that we are fellow companions on a journey. But it is a Synodal way that has a direction rather than listless wandering and an ever-changing goal post depending on the latest fads and mainstream opinions. Our direction is that whatever we do or say, our goal is to get to heaven and not settle for some transient earthly utopia that promises big things but delivers little.

We must be committed to a Synodal way that is not dictated by the complaints and erroneous ideas or sinful preferences of the unfaithful, but rather, a call to listen to and follow the Only One who matters, our Lord Jesus, no matter how unpopular His teachings may be. Synodality is a call to deeper fidelity and not a substitute for it. We must do what is pleasing to the Lord rather than seek external validation from our peers and contemporaries.

Yes, being Synodal means change, but not in the way of changing the gospel or the teachings of the Church to suit our every whim and fancy but rather to humbly acknowledge our sinfulness and undergo repentance and conversion that will lead us to a deeper and more challenging commitment to follow Christ. We must remember that our goal is not to sneak into heaven by the skin of our teeth, but to be transformed in Christ, even on earth. Yes, we must be transformed in Christ – and not into another rival of Christ. This is the ideal.

Finally, it is good to be guided by the wise words of St Ignatius of Antioch: “Our task is not one of producing persuasive propaganda; Christianity shows its greatness when it is hated by the world.”

May they all be One

Seventh Sunday of Easter Year C

I’m often asked if I have a KPI for my leaders, and my answer is “Yes. He or she has to be a unifier.” It would be good if I could have a skilful, talented and super-efficient leader who can multi-task, but I would rather live with mediocrity and even incompetency, than to have someone who ticks all the boxes but has a penchant for sowing discord in the community. If I had a second criterion for my leaders, what would it be? And my answer is “integrity.” A unifier without integrity would be an oxymoron. You can’t have unity at the price of forgoing truth and honesty; and you can’t truly speak of Truth, without wanting to deepen the bonds of unity.

William Wallace, the leading character in the movie “Braveheart” chastised his fellow Scots for allowing minor issues, internal strife, and power struggles to stand in the way of their fight for independence from the English. “We have beaten the English, but they’re back because you won’t stand together.” I feel that is what is happening far too often in the church.

Since last year, our Holy Father Pope Francis has been calling all of us to get on board his initiative of moving the Catholic Church on the path of Synodality. If you still haven’t heard of this, you must have been living in a bomb shelter or a Soviet era gulag in Siberia for the past year. The word “Synod” comes from two Greek root words which mean “common path” or more popularly translated as “journeying together.” This should be good news. We should be starting to see how unity within the Church is being strengthened by leaps and bounds with such a focused project and theme. And yet, sadly, it is quite the opposite.

What we witness today, is not a single global Catholic Church with all one billion of her members happily and willingly “journeying together,” but quite the opposite. Nobody can turn a blind eye to the fact that divisions you normally witness in secular political discourse, have now become staple within the Church. Catholics within the same sheepfold often demonise others across the ideological divide. The teachings of Vatican II are being denied and subverted in open contradiction to Vatican II by many Catholics, not only by ultra-traditionalists but also by those who hide behind the banner of being hard-line defenders of Vatican II.

And despite all the apparent enthusiasm proponents of Vatican II express for Pope Francis, they flatly deny the authority conferred on him by Christ, as the successor of Peter. They just agree with him because it is convenient to do so: they think he agrees with them. Call it theological projection: you see what you want to see when you are enclosed in an echo chamber. The moment the Pope takes a different position, they are most ready to throw him under the bus. On all fronts, there seems to be so many factors which are tearing at the Church’s fabric of unity and threatening permanent rupture.

Could our Lord have foreseen all these when He first composed this prayer to the Father? “Holy Father, I pray not only for these, but for those also who through their words will believe in me. May they all be one. Father, may they be one in us, as you are in me and I am in you, so that the world may believe it was you who sent me.” In Jesus' last words in the Gospel of John, in His dying wish expressed in His Priestly Prayer to the Father, He asks that we may all be ONE as the Holy Trinity is ONE. The unity of the Church should reflect the unity of the Father and the Son. Our unity is our most evident proof of the Truth about the Lord’s identity and mission.

When the Church is divided by conflict, we not only hurt our witness in the world, but we also cast doubts on the Lord’s identity and mission. If many continue to reject that our Lord is the only begotten Son of the Father, sent into the world to save us by His death, we have only our poor witness to blame. Our internal fights and disagreements make our words and testimony weak and unbelievable. Our disunity is doing the work and mission of Christ a disservice.

Our Lord must have understood that disagreements are very much part of the fabric of relationships and community living. That is why He prayed for unity just before His own death and why when He returned to His disciples after His Resurrection, the first gift He conferred upon this community is the Holy Spirit tied with the authority to forgive sins. This is at the heart of the Sacrament of Penance.

It is clear that unity within the Church is not just conformity or affability among her members. To be one is not the absence of opinions. Opinions are healthy. But since we can hold differing opinions, our unity must go beyond just mere good intentions and platitudes. Unity in the Church consists in the visible incorporation into the body of Christ (Creed, Code and Cult - doctrinal, sacramental, ecclesiastical-hierarchical communion) as well as in the union of the heart, i.e. in the Holy Spirit. Without these visible and invisible bonds, any man-made unity remains tenuous and susceptible to fraction. This is the reason why this visible communion with the Church (that we are in agreement with the teachings, the disciplines and liturgical tradition of the Church) must be a prerequisite for us receiving Holy Communion. We RECEIVE Communion only because we are IN Communion.

Finally, truth, not the threat of violence, holds our Lord’s sheepfold together. “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.” (Jn. 14:6) Living His truth does not enslave, it liberates: “You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (Jn. 8:32) The freedom of love does not come with mere compliance. It comes with the realisation that truth, liberty, and God’s commandments are inseparable: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (Jn. 14:15) Because of its foundation in truth, Christian Unity is not populism. Unity cannot be manufactured by our efforts to accommodate, to compromise, to get along and fit in—and then, feel good about it. We cannot put unity above truth because it seems more comfortable to do that.

Unity is not just a public-relations exercise for public consumption. It is a call to conversion and repentance. If sin, whether in the form of envy, selfishness, pride, hostility, prejudice, resentment, is what divides us, then only repentance and conversion can lead us back to authentic unity. In a world which is fractured and polarised along ideological, sectarian and ethnic lines, the Church provides us with a radical model of community, which transcends such distinctions and divisions. So, let us not just pay lip service to unity. Let us constantly and fervently pray for it, work at it and allow ourselves to be transformed, so that we may be fruits of our Lord’s dying wish and prayer: “May they all be one.”