[stephenkhoo]

Scripture Reflections
18 September 2013, Wednesday, 24th Week, Ordinary Time
THE CHURCH AS THE PILLAR AND BULWARK OF TRUTH
SCRIPTURE READINGS: 1 TIM 3:14-16; LK 7:31-35

We are in the midst of celebrating the Year of Faith. What does faith consist of? It consists first and foremost of a response to the love and mercy of God. This was the faith of the Israelites, captured beautifully in the psalm. “Majestic and glorious his work, his justice stands firm forever. He makes us remember his wonders. The Lord is compassion and love.” It was through the experience of God’s love that one begins to believe and trust in God. This is only human, for whom do we believe and trust if not those who have consistently shown us love and proven that they are reliable and trustworthy? Our relationship with God is no different. It cannot simply be based on blind faith in an empty doctrine that does not give life.

Of course, it requires trust and openness to the overtures of God or of a friend. Someone can reach out to us in love in all sincerity. However, if our hearts remain hardened and our minds skeptical, no relationship is possible. This was the case of the Jewish leaders. They behaved like ill-humored children. “They are like the children shouting to one another while they sit in the market place: ‘We played the pipes for you, and you wouldn’t dance; we sang dirges, and you wouldn’t cry.’” Indeed, they were always critical and fault finding. No matter how God tried to reach out to them, they will find excuses not to respond. With John the Baptist, they accused him of being possessed and for being too ascetical. With Jesus, they accused Him of being a glutton.

Indeed, this is the case of those who are skeptical and hostile to the Church. No matter what the Church does, there will be critics who will simply find fault and reasons to discredit the Church. For all the many good works we have done, the Media will gravitate towards the scandals in our Church. They like to magnify our failures and crimes but are oblivious to the crimes of humanity. Of course, such attacks on the Church are more sensational and newsworthy. Quite often, the Church gets more negative than good publicity. Enemies of the Church are just waiting for an opportunity to strike us down.

But our real opponents unfortunately are not from outside. They are our own Catholics. These are wolves in sheep’s clothing. Whilst calling themselves Catholics, they act and think contrary to the faith of the Church. They subscribe to theological and moral views that are not consistent with the faith of the Church. Worse still, some are supposedly Church leaders and catechists. They promote their own personal views as if they are the teachings of the Church. Many are misled or confused by them as to the true teachings of the Church. Our nominal and lapsed Catholics too, are always complaining and so difficult to satisfy. They complain practically about everything. When there is no air-conditioning, they complain. If these are installed, they want fresh air. They complain about the lack of fellowship opportunities, but when organized, they won’t turn up. They want more formation courses, but when held, few turn up. They get disappointed when no one comes for their wakes but they never attend any. They say the liturgy is boring and the Church is dead but they won’t give a helping hand. They lament that the Church does not have sufficient facilities, but some are just giving a widow’s mite, literally!. They give so little but demand much from the Church.

Is that the way “people ought to behave in God’s family”, as taught by St Paul? If we are part of God’s household and family, then shouldn’t we come to realize that faith cannot be a private and individual matter alone? Faith has a communitarian dimension. It is not just me and God. Rather, as the family of God, staying in the same household, there are ground rules that we need to observe for the good and unity of the family.

In the first place, when it comes to beliefs, what we believe must be in common with the rest of the family of God. That is why we are called to make the act of faith together in the Credo. Our faith is personal but it is always in union with the rest of the community. Our faith is the faith of the Church. It cannot be a subjective faith without any relationship with the faith community. Indeed, the Catechism of the Catholic Church says that “believing” is an act of the Church. The Church’s faith precedes, engenders, supports and nourishes our faith. The Church is the Mother of all believers. “‘No one can have God as his Father, who does not have the Church as his Mother’ (St Cyprian)” (n. 181). Therefore, the faith is imparted by the community of faith and through her, we grow in faith. For this reason, St Paul wrote that we must turn to “the Church of the living God, which upholds the truth and keeps it safe.”

Why? Because, as St Paul wrote, “the mystery of our religion is very deep indeed: He was made visible in the flesh, attested by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed to the pagans, believed in by the world, taken up in glory.” Faith is a response to the revelation of God in Christ Jesus. The doctrines of the incarnation of God in Christ Jesus, His resurrection in the Spirit, His being given divine authority as witnessed by the angels and the proclamation of the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit through His Church can only be accepted by faith and in faith. Without faith in the revelation given to us by Christ and transmitted by the Church, the Magisterium, as the successors of the apostles through scripture and tradition, would not be able to share the faith of the Church. As such, our faith must be guided by the teaching authority of the bishops in communion with the Pope. Only through Christ, who sends the Holy Spirit to the Church, are we assured that the Church is infallible when it comes to the teaching of doctrines and morals.

Vatican II in Dei Verbum teaches, “The apostolic preaching, which is expressed in a special way in the inspired books, was to be preserved by a continuous line of succession until the end of time. In this way, if Sacred Scripture contains the Word of God, the Tradition of the Church preserves it and faithfully transmits it, so that the men and women of every age might have access to its vast resources and be enriched by its treasures of grace. Thus, the Church, in her doctrine, life and worship, perpetuates and transmits to every generation all that she herself is, all that she believes.” (DV 8)

Pope Emeritus Benedict said in a general audience, “I cannot build my personal faith in a private dialogue with Jesus, because faith is given to me by God through a community of believers that is the Church and projects me into the multitude of believers, into a kind of communion that is not only sociological but rooted in the eternal love of God who is in himself the communion of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, it is Trinitarian Love. Our faith is truly personal, only if it is also communal: it can be my faith only if it dwells in and moves with the “we” of the Church, only if it is our faith, the common faith of the one Church.”

Clearly, faith, although personal, cannot be just a subjective faith. It is also an objective faith. One does not pick and choose what one wants to believe. Rather, one believes on the basis of the authority of God who reveals through His Church. Unfortunately in this generation, there is a deep distrust in authority and institutions. Because of relativism and individualism people trust in themselves and reject things they don’t like or disagree, like the little children in the gospel. Many so called Catholics pay lip service to the teachings of the Church. They pick and choose the doctrines they feel comfortable with. Theirs is a selective faith. Faith, however, invites us to be the People of God, to be Church, a communion of love and a sign of unity for humanity. If there is no unity in our faith, we are counter-witnesses and clearly contradict our very nature as Church. Ultimately, we must ask ourselves, “Do we belong to the household of God? Do we believe that the Church, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, guides our Magisterium to keep us in the truth? Or do we believe in ourselves more than that the Church is truly the bulwark and pillar of truth keeping us all safe in truth, love and unity?