The Myth of Pastoral Charity

Solemnity of Christ the King Year A

There has been heated discussion of late as to whether one could depart from settled doctrine and revealed truth in Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition by citing the all-encompassing tag phrase of modern times - pastoral charity. In other words, some would argue that the controversial moral issues of our times, including blessing same sex marriages and admitting women into holy orders, would be non-issues if we shift away from focusing on orthodoxy - right teaching - and start focusing more on orthopraxis - right practice based on pastoral charity. So, what exactly is pastoral charity? Can it be so powerful that it can justify the setting aside of truth in the name of kindness and solicitude? It is interesting that we can find our answer in today’s reading.

Let’s first examine the word “pastoral,” which comes from the Latin “pastor,” which means shepherd. The first reading gives us an excellent exposition of the work of the Shepherd King who is God. The Old Testament prophecy of Ezekiel that God will judge “between sheep and sheep, between rams and he-goats” is fulfilled in our Lord’s parable in the gospel. Although the element of judgment is found in both readings, Ezekiel’s prophecy broadens the scope of the shepherd king’s job:
He will keep all, and not just some, of his sheep in view;
He will rescue them whenever they have been scattered in mist and darkness;
He will pasture them and show them where to rest;
He will “look for the lost one, bring back the stray, bandage the wounded and make the weak strong;
He shall watch over the fat and healthy (I guess in our day and age, these two categories point to different categories at both ends of a spectrum);
Then the Lord makes this promise: “I shall be a true shepherd to them.”

When we examine the roles of the shepherd, we notice that it does not include making his sheep happy or contented in their delusion. In fact, the work of the shepherd is to challenge that very delusion and falsehood of their choices which will lead them astray in the first place. The Shepherd does not leave them to their own devices. He goes in search of them. He restores them to their home. He heals those who are wounded instead of allowing the wounds caused by sin to fester and threaten the life of the sheep. This is what it means to be “pastoral.” The shepherd is not just contented in making his sheep feel good. He challenges them so that they strive to be good, in fact, to be the best version of themselves.

How about the second word in this popular expression commonly used by many in these times - charity? For that, we must turn to the gospel. The parable of judgment in the gospel moves away from these images of the shepherd king and now seems to draw us into the narrative by ascribing to us the very responsibilities which the Shepherd King has promised to undertake. The Shepherd King is not abdicating His responsibility and authority but expecting us to act in imitation of Him. We must imitate Him in charity.

The description of the Last Judgment in the twenty-fifth chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel would shock many people if they were to read it. The principles in accordance with which Christ will pronounce sentence are inescapably clear. Did you feed and clothe the poor for My sake, He will ask, because you recognised Me in them? If you have done so, you will certainly be saved. If you have neglected to do so, you will be condemned for all eternity. Christ does not ask about anything else, because everything else is subordinate to the precept of charity. Where there is charity, everything else follows. Where charity is lacking there is nothing else because Christianity is synonymous with charity. Charity, says St. Paul, “is the bond of perfection.” (Col. 3:14)

Our eternal salvation depends on our charity. But it must be charity in action, not merely in words. “He who has the goods of this world,” says St. John, “and sees his brother in need and closes his heart to him, how does the love of God abide in him?” (1st Epistle of St. John, 3:17) Charity must be expressed in almsgiving and good works, for otherwise it would be a matter of idle talk which would be powerless to save us.

Secondly, pastoral charity which ignores or, worse, contradicts God’s revealed truth is not charity, but pseudo-charity. Such abuse of one’s pastoral role would be the greatest affront to the queen of virtues. Kindness or tenderness have their place, but when they degenerate into confirming the faithful in the commission of mortally sinful acts become a cruel caricature of the love a pastor of the Church owes to sinners when they come to him.

Thirdly, our almsgiving should not be dictated simply by natural feelings of compassion, however, nor by mere philanthropy. It should be pre-eminently a religious act, springing from supernatural motives. Because we see the person of Christ in the poor man, we should love and help him as we should our Divine Redeemer, of Whose Mystical Body he is a suffering member. This is real Christian charity.

There is one act of charity which we can all perform, even if we are poor. We can pray for those who never pray, for hardened sinners, for heretics, for those who persecute the Church, for the Missions, for the sick and dying, and for the souls in Purgatory. And for the laity, it is of utmost importance to pray for your leaders – the Pope, our bishops and priests – that they may be “true shepherds” and not false ones who lead their flock astray.

On this feast, when we remember our youth, let us also be mindful of the Church which we wish to bequeath to them on behalf of Christ the King. In wanting the best for them and future generations of Catholics, let us not delude ourselves into thinking that we can “rebuild” the Church, because we may end up, in our hubris, remaking her in our image and likeness, a false bride, instead of the “spotless bride of the spotless Lamb” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 796). Let us never forget that it is Christ who makes the Church, who renews the Church and reforms the Church. We are in Christ grafted as a branch onto the vine, and Christ is in us, feeding, making, and renewing us. Our battle cry isn’t “Yes, we can. Yes, we can!” but “Christus vincit! Christus regnat! Christus imperat!” “Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ commands.” He alone shall be the true Shepherd to us all!

Christ is to be at the centre

Solemnity of Christ the King Year C

This year we witnessed the death of Queen Elizabeth II, whom many hailed as the last truly Christian monarch of the world, as many other nominally Christian monarchs had long abdicated their responsibilities as defenders of the Christian faith over the decades. In the midst of all the pomp and pageantry of the State funeral that stretched over a period of 10 days, there were two main reactions to the proceedings. Some could say that the comments, especially those coming from critics, were painstakingly predictable, as if being read off a script.

For the left leaning socialists and communists, this was another obscene and vulgar display of royal excesses and ostentation - a symbol of a dying empire and egregious colonial past, an unnecessary glorification of a non elected leader, which proved to be mortal like the rest of the hoi poloi, an imposition of Western culture (in the form of Christianity) over a more pluralistic world. But for many Christians (Catholics included), the rituals and ceremonies of the funeral of a Protestant monarch filled with medieval symbolism placed one thing in the forefront. God. As the symbols of authority and sovereignty were stripped away from the bier of the queen and as the cameras focused on these objects, we were reminded of this perennial truth - “all things passes, only God remains”.

Today’s feast is meant to have the same effect on us. It places Christ in the forefront. Today, we are asked not to place our attention nor focus on this past year’s accomplishments or even failures, and neither should we admire our trophies or scars, but our eyes should be fixed on the solitary but regal figure hanging on the cross. Condemned as a criminal for a crime He did not commit, a sentence which He could have avoided but didn’t, the King of the Universe performs His last act of kingship - He pardons a criminal and grants this man the reward and honour of paradise.

And it is interesting that when the first World Youth Day was instituted by Pope St John Paul II, he too had this intention in mind. Christ is to be at its centre, to be in the forefront. For many who have witnessed the almost Woodstock-like atmosphere of WYD celebrations, this attention seems odd. But to the young people, with “their questions, their openness, and their hopes,” the Church, the saintly pope said, must communicate “the certainty who is Christ, the Truth who is Christ, the love who is Christ.” This is the reason why Pope Francis announced last year that he was moving the celebration of World Youth Day to this feast of Christ the King: “The centre of the celebration remains the Mystery of Jesus Christ the Redeemer of Man, as Saint John Paul II, the initiator and patron of WYD, always emphasised.”

Let’s go back to the origins of today’s feast to understand its focus. By liturgical standards, today’s feast is relatively recent. It was only inaugurated at the end of 1925, the Jubilee Year which commemorated the anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea in 325 AD. The first ecumenical council defended the divinity of Christ against the Arian heresy which sought to dilute it. Now, on its anniversary, there were new issues which sought to dilute the centrality of Christ and His divinity.

At the turn of the twentieth century, the forces of secularism and humanism were advancing while that of the Church retreating. World War 1, described as the Great War or the War to end all wars, had left a devastating trail in Europe and beyond its shores. Pessimism, a sense of helplessness compounded by hatred among the nations, was overwhelming. The time was ripe for the rise of tyrants, and rise they did. Many considered the basics of morality and the teachings of the Church to be out of date, no longer relevant to modern society. Modern thinking allowed that, at most, Christ might be king in the private life of the individual, but certainly not in the public world. Some political regimes advocated the banishment of Jesus altogether, not only from society, but from the family as well.

In all these developments, Pope Pius XI saw that people were denying Christ in favour of a lifestyle dominated by secularism, material advantage and false hope created by the tyrants. Throughout the Jubilee Year of 1925, Pope Pius constantly emphasised the kingship of Christ as declared in the Creed: “His kingdom will have no end.” And so, on Dec. 11 of the jubilee year, as the Jubilee Year drew to a close, and in order to acknowledge perpetually the supremacy of Jesus Christ over all men, nations and earthly allegiances, the pope issued the encyclical Quas Primas, which added the feast of “Our Lord Jesus Christ the King” to the annual Church liturgical calendar.

A century later, this feast continues to speak loudly to our generation. We continue to be plagued by political leaders who wish to arrogate the power of God to themselves, to rewrite the moral rules of what is right or wrong, to take human life as if they were its creator, to dictate rules that would violate the conscience of every man and woman. The Solemnity of Christ the King holds out against these forces and seeks to remind mankind of what true power entails and where true power is to be found.

Pope Emeritus Benedict explains that the power of Christ, who has the cross as His throne and a circle of thorns as His crown, is to be seen in the light of what He has done for us through His sacrifice. The King shows us the true face of power through the powerlessness of the cross. Pope Benedict writes, this power “is not the power of the kings or the great people of this world; it is the divine power to give eternal life, to liberate from evil, to defeat the dominion of death. It is the power of Love that can draw good from evil, that can melt a hardened heart, bring peace amid the harshest conflict and kindle hope in the thickest darkness. This Kingdom of Grace is never imposed and always respects our freedom.”

My dear young people, as the Universal Church celebrates the faith that has been passed on down to you. Know this that as the world lures you with so many attractions which seek to gain your allegiance, there is only One whom you should rightly call Lord and Master. Only One whom you will not surrender your freedom but in which you can gain true freedom. Only One that shows that true power lies in the power of love - in giving, you receive; in dying to yourself you will gain eternal life; in losing all you will gain the greatest treasure of all. Only One who does not only speak Truth but is the truth while others can only offer opinions and lies. Only He alone must be at the front and centre of every decision of yours. Turn to Him and repeat the words of the good thief on the cross: “remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And we can be sure that His promise will one day be yours too: “today you will be with me in paradise.”