We Know Even More Now!!!!!
New York is still in a euphoric state after Pope Francis’
visit to us last weekend. Though the weather has changed and the senselessness
of another mass shooting in Oregon has sickened us, people are still sharing
their weekend experiences involving Pope Francis either in person or on
television. There still is a buzz in the air. Since his election as Bishop of
Rome (the title he prefers), the church
and the world see a shift in personality and style.
Fifty
years ago, St John XXIII made a famous statement when challenged on the
connection between Catholicism and a changing world. He said, “We know more
now!”
Indeed,
a major article published since then, traced the evolution of two teachings in
Catholic morality. The teachings
involved slavery and religious freedom. First, Christendom had basically never
challenged seriously the institution of human slavery, seen as a given.
Although St Paul said, “In Christ, there is
no slave or free…all are one in Christ Jesus,” back then, very few thought about a world without slavery. It has always been this way, so God must
allow it. Some quotes St Paul, “Slaves, obey your masters!” It was the
combination of the French Revolution and the Quaker response to human
trafficking in England to a more authentic read of the Scriptures that people
saw, as a group, the systemic sin of slavery.
The Broadway show, Amazing Grace,
shows the conversion of John Newton who composed the famous hymn after his
conversion as a slave trader. In the
minds and hearts and consciences of Christian people, they knew more then. Now
for Christians slavery is a non-negotiable.
Second,
Christendom was not in the forefront of religious toleration when the
subordination of the Church to the state occurred during the fourth century. If
you were a good citizen, you were a good Christian. If you were a good
Christian, you would be a good citizen. That was a foregone conclusion. Deal
with it. Religious toleration was not a big item on the agenda of the
Inquisitions and excommunications done in the name of the Gospel for centuries.
Now, in the twentieth century, the idea of freedom of conscience was taken
seriously by Vatican II. We accept, as
Catholics, freedom of conscience, even though church institutions didn’t always
practice what it preached intramurally.
Recent
biblical studies conclude that Jesus, indeed, taught the value of permanence
and fidelity within marriage quite seriously.
However, what does that teaching mean today in a different cultural
situation? Back then, a women’s identity in society was determined by the
significant man in her life, viz., her father, her husband, her oldest son.
That clarifies Jesus’ vision, in part, as the fidelity and permanence of
marriage. However, what happens today?
The
vision of Jesus remains, yet, what was it to mean in the everyday realities of
people’s lives? The earliest New
Testament author, St Paul, accepted Jesus’ teaching, but even in the
mid-fifties of the first century, in 1 Corinthians, St Paul upheld Jesus’
value, but knew there had to be exceptions.
We saw in the twentieth century a development of our understanding of
Christian marriage. It was back in the late sixties, that we took more
seriously the idea of psychological immaturity at the time of the
marriage.
Each couple, on their wedding day, when they exchange their
marriage vows are committing themselves totally to the Vision of Jesus on the
permanence and fidelity of Christian marriage.
It is the vision they share with Christ Jesus. They celebrate the value.
However, things happen.
There are certainly addictions, infidelity and abuse, both physical and
psychological that manifest after the exchange of marriage vows. What then?
Even
St Thomas Aquinas talked about such cases in the thirteenth century. He said while the values are to be maintained,
but he taught that each and every relationship is unique. Indeed, values
are maintained, but can the value be maintained totally, depending on the
existential realities of life today?
Aquinas was not the first to distinguish between the letter of the law
and the spirit of the law. Why the
Letter of the Law then and what is its Spirit now? Relying on what we know now,
what is the spirit of Jesus’ value in the twenty-first century?
Recall the article on the evolution of Christian thought on
critical values of human slavery and of religious freedom. Pope Francis is encouraging us by word and
example that “times, they are a changin’”.
The
Pope encourages us to be better informed on such topics. A colleague of his,
Walter Cardinal Kasper, wrote a book a few years ago, entitled Mercy (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist,
2014). Pope Francis is quoted, on the book jacket, saying how helpful the book
has been to himself personally. In one
of the chapters, Cardinal Kasper writes of “Mercy
in Canon Law”. Cardinal Kasper will be a player at the upcoming synod on
the family in Rome.
We
have documented development of Jesus’ teachings down through the centuries. We
have a different vision of the inhumanity of human slavery, the inhumanity of
religious intolerance. (Now, we see the environment as part of the Christian
seamless garment, as well!) St John XXIII said, “We know more now”. Maybe, Pope
Francis is hinting that we may know even more now.
New
York was a different place last weekend when Pope Francis was in our
midst. His “from the heart statements”
on a variety of topics are Christian and human and honest, all together. Please
God, that optimistic vision of mercy continue for years to come. After all,
Pope Francis has compared the church as a “field
hospital, which triages between chronic and minor injuries.” He refers to
the sacraments as “Christ’s medicine for
the unwell.” His banner statement remains foremost in the minds and hearts
of many. When asked to identify himself, he said, “I am a sinner. Who am I to judge another?” 100415ADjfq
