Reflection on Cultural vs Authentic Catholicism

 Recently I have spent time reflecting on the challenge of transforming cultural Catholicism into an authentic Catholicism. I encounter the former almost daily as non-practicing parents come to me to have preference certificates signed so their children can go to a Catholic school or college. These individuals, and it is individuals because hardly ever are both parties baptized as Catholic, do not speak about faith rather they articulate their desires in terms of values. The danger, if not the sad reality, is that the Catholic Church spends a great deal of resources and effort catechizing the unconverted. In my darker moments I think: "Let the dead bury the dead; but as for you, go proclaim the kingdom of God." (Lk 9: 60) What to do? 

To make some progress I have found some inspiration and insight be reading the Letter of Paul to the Galatians. He spends the first part of the letter establishing his credentials. He then asks: "The only thing I want to learn from you is this: Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law or by believing what you heard?" (Gal 3: 2)

There is a whole lot in this statement, as the rest of the letter attests. What is meant by "receive the Spirit"? We find elsewhere in the Bible that it is possible for people to engage with the message of Jesus but not to receive the Holy Spirit. It seems that people need to ask for the Holy Spirit. the Gospel tells us that the heavenly Father will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask it of Him. Also, "Knock and the door will be opened to you, seek and you will find." The Holy Spirit will not impose itself on us. Our hearts need to open to receive him and this can happen in a number of ways. The primary one is to, as Paul asserts, "believe what you have heard." 

Through listening to the Scriptures and believing what they teach we are prepared for the Spirit. This is because, as St Augustine teaches, the Christian life is characterized by holy desire. The Word prepares us for the One who spoke it and the Word itself is inspired by the Holy Spirit: "It is spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life." (Jn 6: 63) It is possible to listen to teaching but not to "receive it." Jesus continues his teaching to say: "But among you there are some who do not believe." (Jn 6: 64) Reception of the Word and therefore of the Holy Spirit requires an act of will. Faith is a spiritual gift but I need to want to receive it into my heart so that. like the seed in the parable of the Sower, it may bear fruit.

What, on the other hand, does it mean "to do the works of the law"? We, for the most part, are not Jews and unlike the Galatians no one is telling us that in order for us to be authentically Catholic we need to observe the Mosaic law. Jesus was an observant Jew yet he constantly got offside with the ones widely regarded as the experts on the Law. In his teaching he spoke of "in the beginning." The foundation for the Law, in his opinion, was the will of his heavenly father. The Law given by Moses was handed to the people because of their hardness of heart. How, then, can this teaching of Paul be relevant to the distinction that I wish to make between cultural and authentic Catholicism? 

I think that cultural Catholicism is dominated by social norms. Individuals and groups who use religion not as a transformative relationship with God but as a social construct, which is the property of an ethnic collective, to maintain order and prosperity. This is what is meant by "values" in 2026 and is referred to by Paul as: "You are observing special days, and months and seasons, and years." (Gal 4: 10) Similar to his argument in Romans "For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" (Rm 3: 23), Paul maintains that the Jews and the Gentiles are on the same plane when it comes to pleasing God apart from the reception of the Holy Spirit: "My point is this: heirs, as long as they are minors, are no better than slaves, though they are the owners of the property..." (Gal 4: 1) Therefore, observance of the Mosaic Law cannot be of any use to them. 

It is only through faith that our cultures, practices and traditions can bear spiritual fruit. St Paul was certainly in favour of tradition because when he was teaching on the Holy Eucharist he writes: "For I received from the Lord what I also handed onto you..." (1 Cor 11: 23) The conclusion I draw from this is that those Catholics who live by "values" and not by faith are no spiritually better off that non-Catholics. They have not accepted or appropriated the divine filiation given in baptism and therefore their faith is sterile and they are vulnerable to being enslaved to Mammon: "No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth." (Mtt 6: 24) They may be heirs to the Kingdom through sacramental baptism but they are not yet children. Paul puts it this way: "And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying 'Abba! Father!' So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God." (Gal 4: 6-7)

In order to live an authentic Catholicism we need to open ourselves to the radicality of baptism and to live the message we have received ahead of liturgical or cultural considerations. We should not be quarrelling over those observances that are fundamentally a cultural phenomenon and trying to impose them on others: "If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another." (Gal 5: 15) The key to Catholic authenticity lies in the cross. Jesus himself tells us: "If any want to be my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me." (Lk 9: 23) Paul tells the Galatians: "For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I that live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Gal 2: 19-20) True freedom comes with, in and through Christ and it is that freedom which empowers us to live the virtues and implement sound values: "For freedom Christ has set us free." (Gal 5: 1) It is out of this freedom that we challenge our fellow Catholics to a greater sense of conversion and invite them to entrust themselves to the Holy Spirit as we accompany each other as missionary disciples in the footsteps of the Lord.

Ascension Sunday

 It seems easy for Catholics to overlook the Ascension. The agony of Good Friday, the joy of the Resurrection and excitement of Pentecost are so often the high points of our liturgical devotion and pious reflection. Yet, we hear in Eucharistic Prayer III: "Therefore, O Lord, as we celebrate the memorial of the saving Passion of your Son, his wondrous Resurrection and Ascension into heaven, and as we look forward to his second coming. we offer you in thanksgiving this holy and living sacrifice." The Catholic Bishops of New Zealand have transferred this feast to a Sunday celebration so that we do not miss out on its significance. Do we hear the words of the angels?: "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up to heaven?" (Acts 1: 11) Are we open to the Great Commission given by the Risen Christ?: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you." (Mtt 28: 18-19) If we are uncertain and even afraid let us also be reassured by the words that come next: "And remember I am with you always, to the end of the age." (Mtt 28: 20) In the Gospel of Mark the same message is put this way: "So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and proclaimed the good news everywhere while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it." (Mk 16: 20)

6th Sunday of Easter

 Did you know that there is more than one Pentecost in the Bible? We have Pentecost Day when the Holy Spirit descends upon the community (Acts 2: 1-12), the bestowal of the Holy Spirit on the Samaritans (Acts 8: 14-17), the household of Cornelius (Acts 10: 44-48) and upon twelve disciples in Ephesus (Acts 19: 1-7). In today's First Reading the Holy Spirit is mediated through the apostles, Peter and John, just as he is mediated through the bishop for the sacrament of confirmation. Throughout Acts different groups of people receive the Holy Spirit - Jews, Samaritans, Gentile God-fearers and other Gentiles. The Holy Spirit is poured out on all those who are open to receiving him. As we get closer to Pentecost perhaps, I can start praying now for the gift of the Holy Spirit for myself. I may have been confirmed but through sin I block the action of the Holy Spirit in me. Jesus tells us: "If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!?" (Lk 11: 13)

5th Sunday of Easter

 Sometimes people get confused. They equate the Church with other forms of social organization, or they interpret its activity as a pretext for making money or wielding power over people. There certainly have been many instances throughout history and even today of people abusing both religion and the Church to exploit others. As we heard last week on Good Shepherd Sunday "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy." (Jn 10: 10) This is to be condemned. Nevertheless, when she is working properly, according to the mind of the Lord and the action of the Holy Spirit, the Church mediates the person and mission of the Lord and is intimately linked with him. Vatican II teaches: "For it was from the side of Christ as he slept the sleep of death upon the cross that there came forth the wondrous sacrament which is the whole Church." (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 5) It also states: "By her relationship with Christ, the Church is a kind of sacrament or sign of intimate union with God, and of the unity of mankind. She is also an instrument for the achievement of such unity" (Lumen Gentium, 1) and "He (God) planned to assemble in the holy Church all those who would believe in Christ. Already from the beginning of the world the foreshadowing of the Church took place. She was prepared for in a remarkable way throughout the history of the people of Israel and by means of the Old Covenant. Established in the present era of time, the Church was made manifest by the outpouring of the Spirit. At the end of time she will achieve glorious fulfillment. The as may be read in the holy Fathers, all just men from the time of Adam 'from Abel, the just one, to the last of the elect,' will be gathered together with the father in the universal Church." (Lumen Gentium, 2) Thus, the Church is not an ideology or a charitable institution it is an instrument of the One who said: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me." (Jn 14: 6)

4th Sunday of Easter - Good Shepherd Sunday

 On this Sunday the Church reminds us of the role of ordained ministers, especially those ordained to the priesthood, in the life of the Church. It grieves me to think that in the Palmerston North Diocese there has been no local man ordained as priest since 2002. Thus, twenty-four years without a man from our parishes proceeding to ministry where he will minister among his own people. The other dioceses of New Zealand have had their vocations to priesthood so what has gone wrong for us? I do not know. What I do know is that we need to pray for vocations to the priesthood and encourage young men to consider the possibility of the priesthood for themselves. Anyone called to the priesthood needs to know that he will serve the people ahead of himself and that he, like his flock, needs to enter the gate of salvation through faith in Christ Jesus: "(Jesus says) I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture." (Jn 16: 9) Each one of us has a primary vocation in baptism and it is through this mode of being we are called to serve others. By taking up the cross and resisting the temptation to live only for ourselves we will discover the true meaning of life and the fulness of love that only Jesus Christ can give: "I (Jesus) came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." (Jn 10: 10)

3rd Sunday of Easter

 Have you noticed how many people, especially since the turn of the Millenium, have stopped going to Mass? What has happened to them? Why did they leave? What do they believe now? Did they ever believe at all? I do not have any easy answers. Everyone is different. Reading today's Gospel, however, I get a sense for how Jesus continues to journey with them even though they may not wish to recognize him in their lives. Like the two disciples, they are walking away. Often, I expect, they have a dialogue with one another or in their hearts about "... all these things that had happened." (Lk 24: 14) Their hearts may have been set on this world: "But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel." (Lk 24: 21) Jesus listens to them but he does not let them off lightly: "Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared!" (Lk 24: 25) Patiently, the Lord starts the Good News all over again: "Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, Jesus interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures." (Lk 24: 27) The former disciples do not recognize him but they have absorbed his value of hospitality: "Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over." (Lk 24: 29) It is only in the Holy Eucharist that they realize that the Lord has been walking with them all along: "... he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them, Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Jesus" (Lk 24: 31) They respond to this revelation by returning to the community they had abandoned, with new faith and joy in the resurrection: "That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together." (Lk 24: 33) As this parish begins the Alpha programme let us too be open to renewing our conversion experience as well as journeying with others who seek faith. In this way our own faith will be strengthened and purified so that we do not give up on the Mass, the Church of the Lord. One thing is for sure - he will never give up on us: "If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him he will deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful - for he cannot deny himself."  (2 Tim 2: 11)

2nd Sunday of Easter - Divine Mercy

 The First Reading for the Sundays of Easter comes from the New Testament. The Acts of the Apostles is a sequel to the Gospel of Luke. It relates the post-Resurrection Church which, in the beginning, was designated as "The Way" (Acts 9: 2). It is only subsequently, at Antioch, that the followers of the Risen Lord were called "Christians" (Acts 11: 26). On Pentecost morning the social, juridical and sacramental nature of the community of believers was manifested to the world. This essential and constitutional nature of what we call Church is unchangeable. As we read the Acts of the Apostles, we come to understand how the Good News is lived out by a society of believers. The mystery of the Church on that day continues to be worked out in us today since we believe in: "... one Lord, one faith one baptism" (Eph 4: 5). Thus, we profess in the Nicene Creed that we believe in "one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church." What, you might ask, is the nature of the Church? We hear that: "Those who welcomed the message of Peter were baptized and many were added to the community. They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of the bread and the prayers." (Acts 2: 42) In short, this description speaks of the necessity of baptism in order to be incorporated into the Church; "the apostles' teaching" refers to the teaching function of baptism (munus docendi); "fellowship" indicates the hierarchical nature of the Church with the governing function (munus regendi) of baptism; "the breaking of the bread and the prayers" tells of the centrality of the Eucharist, as well as the sanctifying function of baptism (munus sanctificandi). Let us journey together to Pentecost deepening our knowledge and love of the Church which brings such joy to our lives.