When I was in Rome on one of my trips, I kept hearing priests around me talking about what is going on. I guess as one gets close to the political epicenter of the Church, one begins to hear much more of what is going on with ecclesiastical politics. Even though it was intriguing for a short moment, I immediately felt a deep sadness because I also dislike this political, human, and institutional side of the Church. To be honest, I was once very interested in all the rumors, gossip, and politics because they make one feels good to be “in the know” and “in control” of things, but I have also learned that they are nothing but matters that make one questions their faith.
From early on, especially after the legalization of Christianity by Emperor Constantine through the Edict of Milan, there was always a desire for people to use the Church for their own personal or political gains. One can see from historical records a big influx of new believers, many from powerful political families who wanted to be on the good and right side of the Emperor. This humanistic side existed in the Church from early on, but that never stopped her from living her mission. Christ continues to raise up holy men and women to sanctify His Bride even though there were and are still people who wanted to pervert our vocation for something mundane. The desire to seek glory, to be in the know or in control, is so tempting because the sin of pride is the foundation and root of many evils and perversion. Even though the Church is holy and spotless as the Bride of Christ, her children have always struggled to fix their focus on loving Christ and living out their vocations as they are called to be through the Gospel. Perhaps this is why we should never stop desiring the truth and live in the love of Him who gives Himself totally and completely to us, else we will fix our goods on lesser things that turn us against one another and the truth desired of us from the Almighty.
Behind all the hysteria and politics in the Church reveal some splendor of the truth. It reminds us that we are still being held back by the effects of original sin, and if unchecked, will create divisions even if we do all things with good intentions. Without proper discernment, humble, timely, and prayerful reflection, we will end up using all things to glorify ourselves. Too many of our social and ecclesiastical politics are based on opinions, self-justifications, and blame. Each and every one of the people like the sound of their own opinions! They can use the Sacred Scriptures and Holy Tradition to justify and vindicate their thoughts, and at the same time, blame others. Nonetheless, the Devil is in the details and intentions… because even the prince of evil can and loves to manifest himself as an angel of light. That is why careful and timely discernment is required to see his hidden motives working to divide and turn us against one another. Over and over again, we can see the same tactics and ulterior motives manifested as we let ourselves be controlled and manipulated by the Devil to divide and turn us against one another. The more vicious, vocal, reactive, and righteous a group or person tends to sound, the more we have to be aware and need proper discernment to understand hidden or ulterior motives.
I stopped reading and following ecclesiastical politics, because there are too many human opinions and scapegoating in the mix. Honestly speaking, none of these vocal people will be saints with what they are doing so I stopped listening to what they think! Furthermore, the saints did not allow the “could be better” things in their times to stop them from their vocation to preach the Gospel and care for the abandoned, forgotten, and needy. Those who think that they are right or sit on their high thrones to judge others seldom stoop down or go out of their way to serve those who are not seen beyond their scope of power or self-righteousness. Those who constantly react and talk about others often do not have time to personally care about others out of genuine, self-giving service and love. They might do good things once in a while but that does not mean that they want, desire, or are committed to doing things that are out of the spotlight or without the typical “What is in it for me?” attitude.
How do we change the Church? We change the Church by humbly seeking God‘s will and living it out with genuine service. We change the Church by being committed to our baptismal vocation and mission. We change the Church by how we live our lives every single day. We can talk well, but we cannot be honest with ourselves or with Christ if we have not lived what we believe in humble service. The saints never cared much about politics, so I think it would be wise to listen and follow the examples of the holy ones and what they taught about the Bride of Christ.
We choose to love the Church and her leaders not simply because they are deserving, but because Christ has chosen them. We have to learn to pray for them when we do not see eye to eye on things, that He continues to sanctify them as He sanctifies us. We pray that the Almighty keeps them safe from evil and that they are open to His will. If they have done something wrong or we disagree on some things, we pray that they seek what is true and desire conversion just as God is seeking our desire for the truth and personal conversion. We are the Pilgrim Church, still walking toward the One who created, saved, and continues to sanctify us in our imperfections, brokenness, and limitations. None of us are perfect, so all of us need to be humble in seeking the necessary graces to live according to His will so that our love is in action instead of politics, gossip, or empty words.
We are called to genuine stewardship and guardianship of the earth and of the Church by our baptismal vocation and according to our particular state of life. We are called to care for those who are around us, not only with this generation but for those who will come after us as well. This is the true understanding of stewardship and communion with its proper responsibility and duty so that we leave the Church and our world better than we see it for our those who will come after us. We begin, continue, and end all things by fixing our eyes on Christ and letting His peace subsist in us.
We are reminded by the words of St. Paul who struggled much for the faith and saw many divisions, hurts, sufferings, and similar happenings in our days in his time that where sins abound, grace abounds even more! (cf. Romans 5:20) There are repetitions of old sins and failures that have been with the children of the Bride of Christ for a long time, and they are not going away any time soon. That is why we should not lose heart when we see them again in our days! This is not to say that we should be cynical, but we need to be reminded that we need to fix our eyes on Christ Jesus and let His peace nourish, ground, and give life to us in our daily struggles and temptations to give up hope. We change the world and sanctify the Church by how we live our lives faithfully, humbly, and committed to what has been given to us and in accordance with His will. Let us live as the saints did in their times by letting our love of Christ bring peace to those around us and let our genuine service to one another speak louder than our words.
Pax Christi vobiscum.
I Thirst (John 19:28) with Father Khoi 