IN LITTLE WAYS
When the Synod on the Family ended, the media added up the score. Liberals, they said, lost, because the church made no major changes. Or conservatives lost because questions were raised that they considered settled. Perhaps both sides won. The Holy Father asked the bishops to listen to their flock and to one another. I think (I hope) most of them did.
Of course, they didn’t all agree. Family members seldom all agree, and we are a very big, very diverse family. That’s what I love about the Catholic Church. There’s room here for everybody, and we all have an important role to play in the life of the family and in our ministry to the world.
For example, the bishops in Africa are generally more conservative than Western churchmen. Americans have been told for 50 years that the church is losing members because her rules are too strict. Yet the church is growing fastest in conservative Africa. To me, that says that the unchurched aren’t looking for comfortable doctrine. They’re looking for what feels true. That’s something the church as a whole needs to hear.
On the other hand, so-called liberals also have important words for us. The church continually refines her doctrine and practice in the light of social change and scientific discovery. Once, St. Paul told owners to treat slaves with kindness. Today, the church says slavery is evil, as are disgraceful working conditions of any kind. Pope Francis recently issued an encyclical addressing pollution and climate change, concerns unknown to the apostles.
Social change and doctrinal development often begin as an unpopular minority opinion. It’s sometimes even called heresy. Some of the voices at the synod that offend us may be prophetic. Perhaps one day we’ll have a divorce procedure similar to the laicization of priests. Perhaps one day we’ll know enough about animal consciousness to conclude that good Christians should be vegetarians. Who can tell what the Holy Spirit might teach us next?
It’s not just radical theologians and cranky cardinals who deserve our attention. Every baptized person is a member of the church with a unique ministry. That means we must listen to those brothers and sisters who no longer worship with us. Listen, not argue. Scolding someone for not coming to church probably is not effective evangelism. If they do show up one Sunday, we shouldn’t embarrass them with jokes about the roof falling in. A smile and “good to see you” is probably all the attention they can handle. And whether they got that first marriage annulled is none of our business.
We also need to listen to our Orthodox and Protestant brethren. Every time we snigger at the Pentecostal praising in tongues or the fundamentalist warning of judgment, we miss a chance to learn something more about Christ. How many Catholics pray so whole-heartedly? Know their Bibles so well? Vote their conscience so consistently or willingly sit through a 45 minute sermon?
The older I get the more I’m convinced that the world’s only hope is Jesus Christ. I don’t mean that the Hindu or the atheist is damned. I mean humanity’s only hope is the love of Christ passed from person to person in word and deed. But how can we love each other if we don’t know each other? If we don’t listen with an open mind and heart? That was the purpose of the recent synod, and it should be the purpose of every human encounter. That doesn’t require a change in doctrine or practice. It only requires one person saying to another, “What’s troubling you? How can I help?”
Kathleen welcomes comments. Send them to Kathleen Choi, 1706 Waianuenue Ave., Hilo 96720, or email: kathchoi@hawaii.rr.com.
