The Gospel reading for this Sunday warns against presumption. It is not enough to just claim to be Christian. It is not enough merely to say the words. Being a follower of Christ entails action, the reorienting of our entire lives, with Christ as our center.
There are at least two major ways that presumption can manifest itself. One is complacency. We begin with true dedication and enthusiasm. We follow Christ with a sense of excitement. But the danger is that, like the seed planted in shallow ground, we start to lose focus. We might still think that we are on the straight and narrow and are truly following Christ. But in reality, the word Christian no longer truly describes us. We might still be going through some motions, but when we are complacent, Christ is no longer central in our lives.
The other danger is rationalization. The temptation is to embrace an ideology that is at odds with the teachings of Christ but then label these views as Christian. The mainstream Protestant churches, such as the Methodists, Presbyterians, Anglicans, and Episcopalians, have had a tendency to do so. These churches have become a reflection of the latest trends in culture, while claiming that the ideas they hold are founded on the Bible and are rooted in the teachings of Christ. Every five to ten years, they reinterpret their teachings. They claim that they are merely gaining deeper insights into the Gospel, but in reality they are showcasing the ideology of the current times, with the word Christian added to it.
We must be cautious not to try to alter the teachings of Christ to justify our own desires. Our faith should be firmly based on the uninterrupted, unchanging teachings of the Catholic Church, as proclaimed by the Magisterium of the Church. But, someone might object, doesn't doctrine develop over the centuries. Didn't St. John Henry Newman, who was just named a doctor of the Church, believe in the development of Catholic doctrine?
Yes, St. John Henry Newman did, and the Catholic Church does accept the concept of the development of doctrine. However, such development is understood in a very specific sense. The teaching of the Church is that, over the centuries, we can come to a deeper insight into beliefs that we have always held. For example, our belief that the Virgin Mary is the Mother of God leads to the understanding that she was conceived without original sin and remained sinless during her whole life.
One analogy would be seeing a car in the distance on the highway. We can tell that it is a car, maybe what type of car it is, and what color it is. As it gets closer, we can determine other aspects of the vehicle too. If the car were to park, we could look inside and discover its various features. All these observations would help us to gain a deeper understanding of the car we first saw from a distance. But these insights would not tell us that the car is not really a car but instead and airplane or a submarine.
Similarly, our study of our faith can only build on what the Church has always believed. We cannot discover new things that are at odds with what has already been stated by the Church. Our faith cannot develop into something that contradicts the teachings of the past. That which was true in the 2nd century or the 14th century is just as true today. There is nothing magical about the 21st century that would somehow alter the fabric of reality itself. To truly follow Christ we need to adhere to the fullness of the teachings that have been handed down to us throughout the centuries through the Catholic Church.
As discussed before, these teachings are not arbitrary but are what we need in order to be able to experience God's infinite love for all eternity. Christ does not want to push us away or to reject us. That is why he warns us against things that could cause us to cut ourselves off from relationship with him.
Christ is calling all people to himself, the whole human race. Over the centuries, billions of people have heeded his call. Tragically, however, we also see areas of the world where the faith used to flourish but now the people have turned away and are losing the blessings of God. But historically, when one area becomes complacent and drifts away from Christ, others come to take their place with a new sense of vigor. Even as the West has faltered in its faith, other parts of the world, especially Africa and Asia, have risen up with a new vigor of belief.
Our task today, for those of us living in Western culture, is to believe with the same vigor and to share our faith in Christ with all those around us who have never encountered him or who have allowed their relationship with Christ to grow cold. If we truly believe that Christ gives us eternal fulfillment, unending joy and peace, eternal life, then it would be nothing short of selfish not to share our faith in Christ with others. It would be like having a limitless stockpile of food that only we know about in a starving town. Not telling others about it would be wrong. It would be unloving.
A part of having vigorous faith is to be freed from the idols that bind us, whatever they may be. Money, pleasure, hobbies, cars, collections, sports, politics - all these can become idols if we put them in the center of our being, in the place of God. When we allow idols to hold us captive, God intervenes and acts to free us in various ways. The more we are holding on to the idols, the more we will experience God's intervention as painful discipline, which St. Paul alludes to in the Second Reading for this Sunday. God smashes our idols to bits, which can be painful for us in the moment but is for our own good, so that we can be fully open to receive his love.
Having recently celebrated the great Feast of the Assumption, let us bear in mind that the best way for us to stay away from idols and to stay focused on Christ is to seek the help of our Holy Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary. Our Lady has one goal - to take all of us to her Divine Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. As long as we foster a genuine Marian devotion in our lives, we cannot be far from Christ.
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The readings for the Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C are:
Isaiah 66:18-21
Psalm 117:1, 2
Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13
Luke 13:22-30
The full text can be found at the USCCB website.
Photo Credit: Храм Христа Спасителя, Cathedral of Christ the King from Wikimedia Commons.
