Deut 6.2-6; Ps 17; Heb 7.23-28; Mk 12.28-34
1. People who are not regular churchgoers – lapsed Catholics, lapsed members of other communions and the non-religious – offer many reasons why they no longer go to Mass or their church’s services, or to church at all. One of the most common reasons offered to justify their position is that “Christians are hypocrites.” If pressed, the non-churchgoers will explain that Christians are supposed to be like the picture painted in the Gospel proclaimed read a moment ago, but fall far short. Far from being perfect, we sign up to loving God with our whole heart and our neighbour as ourselves, they say, and then commit sins, act selfishly… the list goes on.
2. As well as the idea that individual Christians are hypocrites, another favourite excuse for not belonging is that the Church, as an institution, is unworthy. Some do not come to Mass because the Church has become “too worldly”, others because it’s “out of touch with reality”. The Church is too rich; too political, not political enough… again the list multiplies.
3. Increasingly, today, anyone in a position of responsibility and trust is likely to find their life under close scrutiny – politicians, doctors, priests, social workers, royalty – and the newspapers love to expose any indiscretion or inappropriate action. People expect those in offices of trust to prove themselves worthy. So another excuse arises. Some people say that because they heard of a priest sent to prison for child abuse, they will have nothing more to do with the Church. It is simply a more immediate version of what used to be heard – people would justify not going to Church.
4. How do we Catholics answer these people who stay away and throw criticisms at us? First by being honest. Some priests are in prison, having been convicted of serious offences; there is no justification whatsoever for morally wrong behaviour. It’s no good pretending these things don’t happen, because nowadays news seeps out or even appears on the front page of the Sunday tabloids. Equally, when we as individual Catholics are called hypocrites, it is not a good idea to claim we are perfect, as self-evidently none of us are – we don’t live up to the high ideals we profess and would like to achieve.
5. However if we are trying our best to follow the Church’s teaching, then we can explain that we hope, as our life progresses, to conform more and more to Christ, to become more loving, more obedient to the Gospel, more faithful to the commandments. The whole point of the Church is to help imperfect people turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel.
6. I said, “if we are trying our best to follow the Church’s teaching.” Here it is necessary to say something quite definite. It suits many people nowadays to approach Catholic teaching and discipline in a “pick and mix” way, choosing to follow what they like and to not hear what they don’t like. If the critics of the Catholic Church have a point, it’s often because Catholics have fallen into bad habits, ignored the Church’s teaching, made up their own version of faith and morals. Many non-Catholics respect the Holy Father enormously because they perceive his teaching on faith and morals to be clear and unambiguous, and his own life to bear witness to what he teaches. They will judge us, and the rest of the Church, unfavourably if we are living muddled, compromised lives based on wishy-washy reinterpretations. Catholics believe the Church’s teaching are the teachings of Our Lord – to be followed!
7. To those who believe that imperfect priests invalidate the meaning of the Catholic Church’s life we need to understand clearly what the Church teaches. The Catechism explains that through ordination, “the presence of Christ as Head of the Church is made present in the community of believers.” (Para 1549) It goes on to say this: “The presence of Christ in the minister is not to be understood as if the latter were preserved from all human weaknesses, the spirit of domination, error, even sin. The power of the Holy Spirit does not guarantee all acts of ministers in the same way.
While this guarantee extends to the sacraments, so that even the minister’s sin cannot impede the fruit of grace, in many other acts the minister leaves human traces that are not always signs of fidelity to the Gospel and consequently can harm the apostolic fruitfulness of the Church.” (Para 1550)
8. This reassures us that the essential life of the Church, the sacramental life, is guaranteed by the Holy Spirit. The writer to the Hebrews, in the second reading at today’s Mass, looked at the differences between fallible, weak, imperfect human high priests of the Old Covenant, and Christ, the eternal High Priest, perfect for ever. The priesthood in the Church is Christ’s priesthood; when Mass is celebrated the bishop or priest at the altar stands in persona Christi – by his ordination he acts as Christ.
His own degree of worthiness does not affect the reality of the sacrifice of the Mass or the real presence of Our Lord in Holy Communion. Equally, in the confessional, the sins of a bishop or priest do not impede divine forgiveness for the penitent.
9. To explain this theology to the unchurched, we need to find secular parallels. We might say something along the lines that if you take cash out from the bank, the fact that the bank clerk who serves you is stealing from the bank does not affect the value of your money. At the same time, we need to restate that the Church is a spiritual organisation designed to serve and save failed and failing humans.
God is the only source of perfection in the universe; Christ, as Head of the Church, is the only source of perfection in the Church. Every aspect of the Church’s life is about saving us – and all mankind – from sin and making us holy. The Church’s teachings, the Sacraments, Canon Law, are all there to guide, sustain and strengthen the weak.
And the life of every saint, without exception, reveals that the closer to holiness a human being attains, the more conscious they are of their unworthiness before Almighty God in his awesome beauty and perfection.
10. In the Gospel for today Jesus affirms one of the scribes, a flawed religious teacher, who says that the essence of religion is to love God with all our heart and our neighbour as ourselves. To this person, Jesus says, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”
In this Mass, Our Lord speaks to us in the Gospel, offers his life for us on the Cross, gives us His Body in Holy Communion and blesses us as we begin another week. All this is guaranteed.
Please pray for the clergy – that they may become more Christ-like in their thoughts, words and actions. And pray the same for yourself. So that the Church may be more convincing to those outside its life.
Osho
