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One of my all-time favorite TV shows is All in the Family, filmed in the early 1970's. In one episode, Archie Bunker, in a heated argument with his agnostic son-in-law Mike, AKA "Meathead" by Archie, was asked, "Archie, if there is a God, why is there so much suffering in the world?" Archie replied, "I'll tell you why... (pause) ...Edith, if there is a God why is there so much suffering in the world?" There is only silence, so Archie yells, "Edith, would you get in here and help me? I'm having to defend God all by myself!"
"We believe in God..." We recite the creed every Sunday. The basis of our faith life is a belief in the God of Jesus. If we didn't believe in God, we wouldn't believe in Jesus Christ, nor the Holy Spirit, and life after death. Belief starts with God... "The totally other."
If you ask me, it's kind of scary that we have so many people speaking for God these days. If "Archie Bunker" told you he speaks for God, you'd probably smile and say, "Sure you do, Archie!" But, we have a lot of people who think they know the mind of God and can speak for God. Wherever they stand on an issue, they tell us that is where God stands on the issue. If you read the stories of the prophets in Sacred Scripture, they tried to run and find excuses instead of speaking for God. Times have changed! Now, any TV evangelist with a bad hairdo, and even politicians, claim they speak for God. I'd rather believe Booker T. Washington. He once said that he prayed, "God, help me to understand your mind." And God answered, "Booker, that's a little too much for you to handle. Let's try a peanut."
Human beings are fallible. Even the church, the People of God, the Body of Christ, can be fallible. Before you call Archbishop Flynn and accuse me of heresy, keep reading. If you study the history of our church, until 311 A.D. it was a crime against the Roman Empire to be a Christian.
The early Christians, by their martyrdom, fought for freedom of conscience against the pagan state, until it was proclaimed for the first time in the historic Edict of Tolerance at Milan in 311. But the same church eventually denied others that freedom and persecuted people for their beliefs. We all know the history of the Inquisition when anybody with beliefs that differed from official church teaching was tortured and burned. It was less than 50 years ago that the church denied full religious freedom to non-Catholics. The church strayed a long way from the gospels and respect for human dignity and freedom... because certain leaders thought they knew the mind of God and could speak for God. Why did things change over the centuries? There have always been dissenters who pushed the church forward. Without people like Friedrich Spee, we'd probably still be torturing and burning heretics/witches. And, without a doubt, we still need holy, prophetic dissenters in the church who keep us faithful to the teachings of Jesus and the prophets.
What we believe is important. The creed we recite every
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Sunday reminds us what is important and essential. Correct belief is important. But, on the other hand, one can become too concerned with orthodoxy (right beliefs) and forget that orthopraxis (right living) is even more important. Jesus Christ, after all, came not only as the truth, but as the way and the life. And he said we would be judged by how we live his great commandment, "You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, with your whole soul, and with all your mind.... and you shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 22: 37-39)
As believers who belong to the Catholic Church, all of us are called to search together for the answers to the terribly perplexing moral problems of our times. All of us must be open to truth and ready to follow the inspiration of the Holy Spirit speaking through the lives of holy people and prophets among us. All of us must realize that nobody possesses a monopoly of truth. The authority of the bishops and the pope will be in proportion only to their willingness to listen to the faithful. (I think the late Archbishop John Roach did a great job as he listened to the women of the Archdiocese. Our bishops need to listen to women, one half of God's church.)
With the help of Sacred Scripture, the church, tradition, prophets, holy people, and even dissenters, we try to know, love, and serve the God of Jesus. Like Abraham and Sarah, our spiritual parents who first believed in One God, we live by faith, without all the answers. The Baltimore Catechism made it sound so easy to be a Catholic Christian... it had all the answers. Times and thinking have changed. The authors of that catechism lived in a simpler time for the most part. Today, Catholics are better educated. They are not afraid to question and challenge their leaders, yours truly included. Each one of us must answer for our own life, but still there are some who try to escape the burden of freedom by a servile dependence on church authority, and even civil authority... even when country and church can be fallible.
Our God gives each one of us free will and an intellect. As people of faith, we trust God... and we question. As followers of Jesus, we try to love and support one another in our challenging times.
Fr. Bill
Editor's Note: Father Bill is taking a group to the Holy Land, Mar. 27 - Apr. 5, 2006; brochures in Plaza kiosks.
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