Monthly Archives: April 2014

 Both Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI challenged the world in general and the church in particular to pay attention to a human tendency to fall into a moral relativism.  By this, they meant that it is easy, in our modern world, to start thinking that any moral choice is as good as any other moral choice.  As our modern world has become more and more secularized – as the choice to be a person of faith becomes seen as simply one choice among others, many people find it difficult to say that there are definite moral norms.  It is harder to say that THIS is right or wrong when many people of good will disagree on that issue.  These past popes saw this playing out particularly in the area of moral decision-making, but Pope Francis reminds us that this tendency also pertains to other areas of life.

In particular, Francis exhorts us to think about our spirituality.  In a world where being a religious believer can be viewed with suspicion or even ridicule by non-believers, it is easy to fall away from our practice of our faith.  Living out our faith in a robust spiritual life can sometimes seem too difficult, too time-consuming, too old-fashioned.  Although he is speaking to pastoral workers (those who work directly for and in the church), Francis’ exhortation away from a practical relativism can easily be applied to most of us:  “This practical relativism consists in acting as if God did not exist, making decisions as if the poor did not exist, setting goals as if others did not exist, working as if people who have not received the Gospel did not exist” (§ 80).  This is a profound call to attentiveness for all Christians.  If we want to take our faith seriously, we need to take all of these various constituencies into account.

As we live our lives, do we consider what God wants?  Do we seek to discern God’s will in our lives and do we seek to live our lives according to that will of God that we have discerned?  Does God even factor into our thinking as we go about our daily lives?

Do we ask how our actions will impact the poor?  Do we think about those who are materially poor, downtrodden, excluded from full participation in society, or thought of as second-class citizens?  And more importantly, do we live our lives in a way that helps to alleviate the suffering of these poor?  The Biblical witness reminds us that God opts preferentially for the poor.  Do we?

Do we consider the impact that our actions will have on others?  Do we live as if we are the only ones who matter?  Or do we live as if my decisions don’t have anything to do with those around me in my family, in my community, in the world?  How can we make choices in a way that promotes the common good?

Do we ever consider those who do not know the Gospel?  Do we ever seek to share our love of God with those we meet in our everyday lives?  Do we live our lives in a way that demonstrates the joy of being a Christian so that others will be drawn in by us?

These are profound challenges for all of us as we seek to more and more consistently and faithfully live out our Christian faith.  As we approach Holy Week, let us consider how we can reject this kind of relativism and live lives that are full of joy in the faith.  Let us strive to live out our faith and joy so that those around us will know that we have chosen faith.

By now, Pope Francis has cultivated a reputation as a pope who has a particular concern for the poor and a focused interest in calling the Church to a sustained care for the poor in our world. In his apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, Francis makes this focus abundantly clear: “Each individual Christian and every community is called to be an instrument of God for the liberation and promotion of the poor, and for enabling them to be fully a part of society” (§ 187).

This call for the preferential option for the poor is deeply rooted in the Biblical story and in Jesus Christ’s witness to us. The story of God’s relationship with humanity, as we find it told in Scripture, is one of God’s liberation of those who are oppressed. In the Exodus, God freed the Israelite slaves. The Law exhorts the Israelites to remember that God freed them and to practice that same liberating impulse in their relationships with those in their communities who most needed care, protection, and justice. The Law calls these who most need our care “the widows and the orphans” – but this category included all of those who have no one else to protect stand up for them. The prophets continually denounced the Israelites when they forgot this call from God, when they failed to treat “the widows and the orphans” with justice. Jesus, too, shows us that we are called to assure that all in the community are treated with justice and love.

Drawing on this scriptural tradition – as well as a very long and profound tradition within the teachings of the Church – Pope Francis calls us to remember that we are all obligated to provide for the just conditions of all in our community. And this call is to each and every Christian; it is not reserved to those few people who work directly with the poor. Just as evangelization is part of the identity of the Church and each of us is called to make up this evangelizing Church, so too is justice a part of the identity of the Church and each of us is called to make up a Church that works for justice.

And this must mean more than simply providing charity for those who are experiencing poverty. While charity – the money, gifts, and time we donate from our excess – is of vital importance, it is not enough. God requires that we also work for justice. Francis reminds us: “The Church has realized that the need to heed this plea [for justice] is itself born of the liberating action of grace within each of us… It means working to eliminate the structural causes of poverty and to promote the integral development of the poor, as well as small daily acts of solidarity in meeting the real needs which we encounter” (§ 188).

This is an enormous mission that God is calling us to: “We are not simply talking about ensuring nourishment or a ‘dignified sustenance’ for all people, but also their ‘general temporal welfare and prosperity.’ This means education, access to health care, and above all employment, for it is through free, creative, participatory and mutually supportive labor that human beings express and enhance the dignity of their lives. A just wage enables them to have adequate access to all the other goods which are destined for our common use” (§ 192). This is a tall order, but it is one that, with God’s guidance and grace, we can manage. In our modern world, we have the resources to end poverty and to structure our societies in such a way as to promote the human dignity of each and every person. What we seem to lack is the commitment that God is calling us to.

As we move towards the end of Lent, let us pray that God will strengthen us in the fight for justice in our world so that we can follow God’s call and help to realize the Reign of God in our world.