He was denied by St. Peter himself, betrayed by Judas,
rejected by his own people, suspected by the leading men of his time, and
finally crucified by the people he came to redeem. Even his apostles would miss
the point of what he was forcefully teaching and showing.
These things can happen to anyone of us. As St. John in
his gospel would have it, “He came unto his own, and his own received him not.”
(1,11)
Christ had to bear with all of these. More, he preached
and lived what he preached that we have to love our enemies. If one strikes you
on the right cheek, turn to him the other. If one takes away your coat, let go
of it. If one forces you to walk one mile, go with him for two.
We have to forgive not only seven
times, but seventy times seven, meaning, always. He tells us to forgive
otherwise we will not be forgiven ourselves. We should remember that all of us
are sinners.
This is true loving, the one that
comes from God and not just our own invention, developed simply on our own
terms that are mainly based on the material, the sensual, the worldly. True
loving goes beyond these human, natural, not to the mention the inhuman and
unnatural categories and values we are prone to have due to our sin.
Therefore, we should be wary when we
feel provoked and react to dissenters within the Church, in their usual
colourful ways, by utilizing their own style and venom. That would be joining
them in thegutter, instead of taking them out of it.
What we have to do is to follow the
advice of St. John of the Cross, who was clearly inspired by the example of
Christ. “Where there is no love, put love and you will find love.” We don’t put
off fire byadding fire. We drench it with water.
This formula never fails. It may take
time, its effects not immediately seen, but it will always work. That’s the
reason why suffering and sacrifice are unavoidable to a person who truly lovesGod
and everybody else in obedience to God’s will.
That is why Christ himself told us
very clearly, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his
cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but
whoever loses hislife for my sake and that of the gospel will save it.” (Mk
8,33-35)
Dissent within the ranks is the risk
all of us, from God down to the last man, take because of our freedom. It can
be a sign of freedom, but not necessarily freedom itself, for true freedom is
the reciprocal of total obedience to God’s will. So, let’s take it easy. Let’s
just be sport, try our best with charity and truth. God is always in control.
What we have to do is, as one saint
would have it, to drown evil with an abundance of good. In our differences and
conflicts, let’s never burn the lines that keep our dialogues and exchanges
going. If thesituation becomes unbearable, let’s find ways to seek ways to
loosen tension, erode division, remove animosities.
Let’s pray hard, be spiritual and
supernatural in approach, and then study the issues thoroughly. Kindness should
not supplant competence. We don’t approach the issues with reason alone. We
need to be spiritual and supernatural.
We should have a tight grip on our emotions and passions,
and drop many bombs of goodwill, courtesy and compassion.
This is how the conversation gets
going even if the other party is bent in spoiling it. We should be quick to
recognize the good points these dissenters make, and build on them the bridges
to reach theirmind and heart.
In points of conflicts, let’s be clear
to distinguish between the person and the error. We have to learn to be “fortiter
in re, suaviter in modo,” doing what is to be done with unflinching firmness,
but inthe most inoffensive manner possible.
This will definitely take time and
oodles of patience. But let’s remember that in dealing with Church dissenters,
it’s not a matter of scoring points but of converting them. Obviously with
God’s grace but
also with our utmost effort.
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