TWO items grabbed my attention these
past days. Both
commanded intense prayers—of thanksgiving, expiation and petition. One
was the first anniversary of the 7.2 tremor that hit my beloved
province of Bohol, and Cebu where I’m now assigned.
The other was the Synod of Bishops on Family now going on
in the Vatican, which some observers also considered as a kind
earthquake. Its mid-Synod report generated quite a heat among many who
certainly are seeing things from different angles.
The Bohol earthquake destroyed a lot of churches, but it
strengthened also the faith of many. It also brought out the resilient
character of the people. It’s a good reason to be happy and thankful,
and to still hope that things, and the people especially, continue
improving.
It’s different with respect to the Synod. The cracks,
potential destruction and havoc it is producing are so very subtle
that many do not even notice them. That’s why, that gathering to the
eyes of many has become more disturbing.
But there is always hope, and so let’s pray that with the
open, candid but respectful discussion the Pope is promoting in this
Synod, the issues would be resolved properly, with every voice and
observation given due attention and blended, hopefully seamlessly, in
one organic, living piece, with the divine spirit animating it.
It’s not an easy task, of course. And so we really have to
implore the help of the Holy Spirit to guide our Church leaders to
come out with a document that would make everybody happy. That may
sound impossible, or at least improbable, but hope always springs
eternal. We just have to try to be most receptive to the Spirit’s
promptings.
The main issue, to my mind, is how to fuse together the
exclusivity of truth and the inclusivity of charity. In this regard,
it may be useful to keep in mind all possible leanings and biases
people can have and try to craft a document that would be kind of
politically or pastorally correct for everyone, not favouring one over
the other.
We have to presume that everyone is for God, that everyone
is for the truth, charity, justice and mercy, that everyone is a
sinner called to become a saint, etc. But we have to get real on how
each one is in his concrete condition.
Some can be described as conservatives, others liberal,
some saintly and pious, others openly sinful, some are of the
intellectual and theoretical type, others are more of the pragmatic
kind, some steeped more in tradition, others are of the progressive
mould, keen in innovations, etc. We also have straight and gay people.
This is not to mention that people are classified
according to age, sex, profession, social, economic and health
condition, talents, charisms and other endowments. Some are healthy,
others not, others may even be in the ICU. Everyone has to be
respected, loved and cared for.
Yes, we have to give more attention and care to the needy,
confused and lost but not at the expense of sacrificing those who are
well-off, clear-minded and very much in the mainstream of orthodoxy.
A way has to be found to make everyone care for one
another, with the better-off giving more to those who are more in need
who actually can also give something precious, if intangible, to the
better off.
Whatever document or comment or initiative our Church
leaders make about his pastoral ministry should be tactful, avoiding
anything that can disparage, much less, alienate in any way certain
sectors. They have to learn to be most prudent, discreet and delicate
especially in their words.
Of course, man will always be man, still haunted by his
weaknesses, mistakes and all that, but Christ has already come and
redeemed us with his death and resurrection, and all we need to cure
what is sick, right what is wrong, heal what is wounded is already
given to us, entrusting the Church with the power to dispense those
means.
It’s right that Christ’s redemptive work, while already
perfect and made available to us, still remains a mystery that can
spring surprises to us. But these surprises will never be a denial of
what is already known and lived by us as authoritatively taught by the
Church, but rather a deepening of those.
We have to revisit the doctrine on graduality and
conversion as articulated in “Familiaris consotio” and see to it that
it does not degenerate into relativism, which is to make God according
to our designs. Everyone needs continuing conversion, you, me,
priests, bishops and even the Pope. Let’s help one another instead of
quareling.
commanded intense prayers—of thanksgiving, expiation and petition. One
was the first anniversary of the 7.2 tremor that hit my beloved
province of Bohol, and Cebu where I’m now assigned.
The other was the Synod of Bishops on Family now going on
in the Vatican, which some observers also considered as a kind
earthquake. Its mid-Synod report generated quite a heat among many who
certainly are seeing things from different angles.
The Bohol earthquake destroyed a lot of churches, but it
strengthened also the faith of many. It also brought out the resilient
character of the people. It’s a good reason to be happy and thankful,
and to still hope that things, and the people especially, continue
improving.
It’s different with respect to the Synod. The cracks,
potential destruction and havoc it is producing are so very subtle
that many do not even notice them. That’s why, that gathering to the
eyes of many has become more disturbing.
But there is always hope, and so let’s pray that with the
open, candid but respectful discussion the Pope is promoting in this
Synod, the issues would be resolved properly, with every voice and
observation given due attention and blended, hopefully seamlessly, in
one organic, living piece, with the divine spirit animating it.
It’s not an easy task, of course. And so we really have to
implore the help of the Holy Spirit to guide our Church leaders to
come out with a document that would make everybody happy. That may
sound impossible, or at least improbable, but hope always springs
eternal. We just have to try to be most receptive to the Spirit’s
promptings.
The main issue, to my mind, is how to fuse together the
exclusivity of truth and the inclusivity of charity. In this regard,
it may be useful to keep in mind all possible leanings and biases
people can have and try to craft a document that would be kind of
politically or pastorally correct for everyone, not favouring one over
the other.
We have to presume that everyone is for God, that everyone
is for the truth, charity, justice and mercy, that everyone is a
sinner called to become a saint, etc. But we have to get real on how
each one is in his concrete condition.
Some can be described as conservatives, others liberal,
some saintly and pious, others openly sinful, some are of the
intellectual and theoretical type, others are more of the pragmatic
kind, some steeped more in tradition, others are of the progressive
mould, keen in innovations, etc. We also have straight and gay people.
This is not to mention that people are classified
according to age, sex, profession, social, economic and health
condition, talents, charisms and other endowments. Some are healthy,
others not, others may even be in the ICU. Everyone has to be
respected, loved and cared for.
Yes, we have to give more attention and care to the needy,
confused and lost but not at the expense of sacrificing those who are
well-off, clear-minded and very much in the mainstream of orthodoxy.
A way has to be found to make everyone care for one
another, with the better-off giving more to those who are more in need
who actually can also give something precious, if intangible, to the
better off.
Whatever document or comment or initiative our Church
leaders make about his pastoral ministry should be tactful, avoiding
anything that can disparage, much less, alienate in any way certain
sectors. They have to learn to be most prudent, discreet and delicate
especially in their words.
Of course, man will always be man, still haunted by his
weaknesses, mistakes and all that, but Christ has already come and
redeemed us with his death and resurrection, and all we need to cure
what is sick, right what is wrong, heal what is wounded is already
given to us, entrusting the Church with the power to dispense those
means.
It’s right that Christ’s redemptive work, while already
perfect and made available to us, still remains a mystery that can
spring surprises to us. But these surprises will never be a denial of
what is already known and lived by us as authoritatively taught by the
Church, but rather a deepening of those.
We have to revisit the doctrine on graduality and
conversion as articulated in “Familiaris consotio” and see to it that
it does not degenerate into relativism, which is to make God according
to our designs. Everyone needs continuing conversion, you, me,
priests, bishops and even the Pope. Let’s help one another instead of
quareling.
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