I was drawn to this testimony of Sr Maria by a brother and noticed that her journey to a greater love of God was a gradual one. She started by attending mass and praying the rosary in obedience to the voice of God. Following that voice, she is able to grow in charity eventually deciding that she is called to give her life in the service of God. The story of St Francis of Assissi illustrates profoundly this pilgrim walk of the saints as they follow the irresistible voice of God. With the exception of some martyrs like Maria Gorretti, most Saints have a long gradual growth in maturity and love for God. A reflection of an Exodus from a state of slavery to sin towards the freedom of Sonship.
This journey starts when the pilgrim recognizes the call of God and is powered and enabled by God in the three persons of the Trinity. God the Father calls each one in all the circumstances of their lives to come to his divine Son. This call is present even in the failures which God permits people to fall into. The story of Alessandro Serenelli, the young man who murdered Maria, is a beautiful example of the grace of God that permits us to fall into sin so that we might have a chance to get saved. St Paul is aware of this grace, writing about how God has put a thorn in his flesh to keep him humble (2 Cor 12:6-8) and how God has abandoned people to fall into grave sins because of their pride (Rm 1:26-32).
God draws each of us to come to his Son Jesus who gently and lovingly leads us back to God the Father (Jn 6:44) in a journey in which we face trials and temptations and grow in knowledge, virtue and wisdom. Salvation is uniquely and entirely the work of the Holy Trinity. No one among us can save another human being. Not with brilliant rhetoric, stern exhortations, or great piety. We must rely on God for the salvation of all. Because only he can break the barriers of language like on the day of pentecost to bring people a faithful understanding of the truth.
Having overcome the tempter through trials and temptations each Saint becomes a treasure for the Church. Revealing to the world the light of Christ which shines brightly through their lives. In their lives, we can perceive the way to the Father. And in their writings we get knowledge that can help each of us in our pilgrim journey. Each child of God can find a model and mentor who they can look up to for inspiration from the multitude of the Saints.
It is possible for us however, in an effort to emulate the Saints and help all find salvation to reduce the truth and look at it from the perspective of the Saints completing their pilgrim journey. Looking at the Christian life from this perspective of those who have arrived, we can be deceived into ignoring individual contexts. We are then drawn to reduce the process of salvation to a formula that has been used by one or two Saints. Very often this is something which we believe works for us and then expect that this will generalize for everyone.
We have witnessed such attitudes in the pointed opposition to exhortations of Pope Francis to make a case by case judgment. In this opposition we see a belief in a standard formula for salvation. The reactions to Fiducia Supplicans shows us that this attitude perceives the Christian life only from the end. From the perspective of one who is ready to cross the Jordan river and demands that every person should only approach Christ from such a perspective. It is unable to perceive the helping hand of Christ for those still far away. It does not recognize that God permits afflictions of Sin and consequently does not make for the person listen to the call of God in these afflictions. It is expressed in the Nostalgic longing for earlier Popes like St John Paul II and Pope Benedict XIV who were considered to always express themselves in a way loyal to trans Jordanian truths. It is an attitude which treats the Church as a body whose members are all ready to cross the Jordan and demands that all pronouncements should be trans Jordanian.
Each one of us filters our knowledge and faith through a subjective lens which depends on our knowledge, strengths, desires, failures, and vulnerabilities. It is through our subjective experiences that we recognise what is good and evil. Feelings of shame and guilt for example help us to recognize that a particular act was contrary to what is good.
We believe that there is an intersection between the objective truth and our subjective experiences. But we also know that subjective experiences can be corrupted. For these reasons we can condemn that which others associate with the good. However, there is no guarantee of the incorruptibility of our subjectivity. Moreover, it is still possible that the subjectivity of those we condemn can be infallible in its own right. In the end, any attempt to resolve subjective differences results in the kind of intractable political skirmishes that characterize our communal engagements. Only by the help of God is it possible for us to come to the knowledge of Truth. But even references to God can be bedeviled by our subjective interpretations of the divine message. In the end, we find ourselves in disagreement over what God permits and does not permit. This is something evident in the Church today. The only hope of the faithful is that God with his infinite power can penetrate the subjectivity of every other person and bring us to a common understanding of the truth.
Since subjectivity dictates and limits what a person can understand and influences how people rationalize what is true. Any attempt to perceive the Christian life only from “our” trans-Jordanian perspective can lead us into undermining the subjectivity of others while elevating our own. We have to note here that there is no trans-Jordanian perspective of the Truth that is absolutely faithful to the person of God. Only the Saints in heaven have a subjectivity that is free from any corruption having been purified. Each one of us has an incomplete knowledge of the truth and a corrupted subjectivity. We also have to note that people cannot be saved, without their subjectivity because it is in that subjectivity that they can experience God.
We can see then that the task of evangelizing is an impossible task. It requires us to communicate eternal truths we do not fully understand in a language that is in sync with the subjectivity of those we seek to evangelize. This is a challenge for all called to evangelize in their various capacities. Each one of us is called to recognize our own subjectivity and to rise above this subjectivity trusting in God to reveal to each individual the forms of corruption in their subjectivity. And we too who still journey must also without ceasing pray that we may be purified of all forms of corruption that may permeate our own subjectivities.
In order for us to faithfully fulfil our vocation of evangelization, we need to look to Jesus, the good teacher. We need to look beyond what he says and notice how he says it. We see how he recognizes that his Apostles are still young in their faith and defends them on not fasting (Mt 9:14). We see how he spares his Apostle’s truths they are not ready to process at the time of his departure (Jn 16:12) instead priming them to count on the Holy Spirit who will reveal to them all truth.
In his conversation with the rich young man, we witness how he gives an ‘incomplete truth’ (to keep the commandments) aware that such a truth once understood prepares the person to take the next step of his pilgrim journey. He only gives the person the complete truth (which is to follow him) once this person has understood the ‘incomplete truth’ (Mk 10:17-22). We have to state here that even this truth (follow me) is an invitation to seek the truth. In this narrative we witness the gentle actions of Jesus as he leads each pilgrim slowly and gently along the road to their salvation; starting with them where they are at. And leading them ever closer to greater union with God. He is confident that the person who searches for the truth in a genuine way will come to find it.
We find such confidence in the much criticized reply that Pope Francis gave in Singapore in which he maintained that “all religions are a path to God”. Those who find fault with his answer, believe Catholicism is the only religion that leads to God and the head of the Catholic Church must always assert this infallible truth even to people who might not understand it because all are invited to accept this truth. His statement is an expression of his deep faith in the providence and mercy of God who can penetrate the corrupted subjectivity of those who seek the truth with a sincere heart and revealing to them the whole truth. We continuously witness how God has helped many to come to the Catholic Church from different denominations. We cannot deny that these people who now enjoy communion with the Church did not first encounter God in those evangelical movements. Further, we must acknowledge the words of Jesus himself who reveals to us that not everyone will be saved through the institution of the Apostles, because they belong to another flock (Jn 10:66).
When we evangelize like we are now ready to cross the Jordan, we abandon the many children of God who are still far away and place burdens on others who are not yet ready to comprehend trans Jordanian truths or whose trans Jordanian truths vary from our own. We can lead people into a state in which they believe what they are doing is right when it does not fit into their contexts. We exhaust the meek and drive away those with a faith that is young or weak. It is something that is undermining the work of God and the Church as a whole.
If we desire our evangelisation efforts to be fruitful, we need to go back to the kind of anticipation which characterised the life of the Apostles at the beginning of their ministry. An anticipation which prompted them to listen to the Holy Spirit and receive truths not only about the Church but also about each individual. We need to learn to teach each child to be sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit who reveals the healing words of Christ faithful to their subjectivity which can enable them to take the next step in their pilgrim journey. We need to move away from our ‘trans Jordanian truths’ and embrace a synodal Church that opens up the door for each child of God to be Priest, Prophet, and King. Able to listen to God and act in union with his directive.
Notes:
This article has been significantly re-written to better express the concepts expressed here in with greater neutrality.