Stephen – Man of Faith (Homo Credens)

God is affectionate

Part I: The affections of God

We struggle to conceptualize who God is because we can’t see him. We are told many things about God; told that he is infinitely wise, all-knowing, almighty, just, holy, jealous, and even wrathful. Different aspects of God’s identity stand out more prominently for different people. As a young child I was most conscious of the omnipresence of God, especially in relation to the fact that I could not hide anything from him. He was the man with the big eye who saw everything (I did). For some it is his rage that condemns people to a fiery furnace.

Along the way, and very frequently we hear that God is love, that he is loving. St John speaks most prominently about God’s loving nature in the famous Jn 3:16 (God so loved the world that …). He also speaks about God’s loving nature in the first letter of St John (1 Jn 4:16).

The challenge for us in understanding this is that we associate love with affections, feelings, sentiments, and or emotions. This is true even when the expression of love is also demanded by law for example in the case of married spouses or with justice like for a mother. We might ask and expect the husband to make sacrifices for his wife. But we are conscious that this sacrifice which we now require regardless of sentiment started out as a nice feeling about the other person. Even for the case of a mother, emotions quickly creep in even before birth.

We are affectionate creatures and strongly associate love with affection. When it is a matter of choice, we are drawn to people based on how we feel about them. Our affections reveal to us that we love a person and hopefully (that they love us too). And those affections can move us to make sacrifices for the other person. For these reasons, we cannot perceive that God loves us because we don’t recognize his affections. Without perceiving the affections of God, the distant story of Christ sacrificing himself may not mean much.

However, it is difficult to describe God as affectionate because affections are complex, impossible to measure, quantify, compare or to hold logical arguments about. We may see the effects of the affections that someone has for another person but we can’t reach those affections. We can’t even be sure that there is a similarity in the affections that two people have although they may both describe those affections as love. Additionally, because love proceeds from good intentions which we cannot see, the actions that would reveal to us the affections that people have, may be misleading. A man who buys for his fiancee a car may not necessarily love her more than the one who could only afford a dress. On the contrary it is even possible that he is doing what we see because he only intends to use her for his selfish purposes. In short we can’t describe how the affections of God should feel like.

But describing God as affectionate also presents other challenges other than being difficult to describe or quantify. One of them is that most of the time we describe God through his attributes. And while some attributes can be equated to God such as Love (1 Jn 4:16) – God is loving, but he is also love, so that the person who lives in love lives in God. Most of the attributes of God cannot be equated to who he is. God is affectionate, but he is not “affections”. The problem that arises is that people may end up seeking those attributes other than God himself. This is the temptation which led our ancestors to the worship of magnificent creatures which displayed the grandeur of God.

Saying that God is affectionate can lead us to begin to pursue affections for the sake of those affections. This is an act of selfishness which separates God from the affections he gives and from the person who is meant to receive the affections. The man is tempted to seek the affections of God but without God. This is the case for the people who seek for good feelings through psychedelic drugs. But is also true of other non psychedelic drugs (like alcohol), music, and even nice food.

But the fact is that God is deeply affectionate. This is his nature. God is affectionate all the time. It is we who are unable to perceive the affections of God because we are living in an unjust unrighteous state since the fall of man. We are not able to perceive the affections of God because we are literally separated from him. If we were to approach God in this state of separation/injustice, we would not be able to withstand the deepest affections of God. We would run away from him and his affections because we are proverbially naked. We need to be purified in order to experience the full affections of God. And in our fallen world, our total purification is only guaranteed after we die, and become incapable of sinning in the body. So we will not be able to fully experience the deepest affections of God in this world.

In spite of our incapacity to perceive the affections of God which he is always pouring out. We do receive the affections of God through an act of grace won for us by Jesus Christ. These affections come to us as a gift. They come to us to console us in difficult circumstances, to encourage us to do the right thing to show us the way along which we can continue our purification. God gives us his affections in response to a positive and good will. It is because of the deep affections of God that the martyrs are able to endure and even sing through their martyrdom.

These affections come to us in everything that is good and natural, including nature, music (even ‘positive’ secular music), work, e.t.c. God uses all of creation to help us to perceive his affections. We cannot perceive and find peace in music or anything If God does not permit it. If God were to completely withdraw his affections we would run mad. And indeed when we reflect about it, we can be led to realize that God gives and withdraws his affections as he wills. Something that helps us perceive the grandeur and love of God today can be meaningless tomorrow especially when we try to drain that object of ‘the good feelings’.

The writing of many great Saints also reveal to us how our process of purification brings us into ever deeper experiences of the affections of God. They also tell us that along this journey, God withdraws these affections to strengthen our will to seek him and seek the good (and not seek his affections). They speak for example about the dark night of the senses and the dark night of the Soul. A period of total despair but also of intense purification.

Part II: We live seeking the affections of God

Conversely, we are affectionate beings. We seek the affections of God in all we do. When, as that prodigal son, we return home for food, we are really seeking the embrace of God our Father having come to the conclusion that bodily pleasures do not and cannot bring us satisfaction. When we are unable to get the affections of God, we end up pursuing these affections in earthly things; in wealth, power, money, fame and even in sensual pleasures, in a pursuit in which we are ever hungry, always eating but never satisfied. For us the words of Isaiah the prophet ring loud and true. We spend our money and energy on what does not satisfy us. For us is the invitation, come to me all you who are thirsty, .. come buy wine and milk without money and without cost (Is 55: 1-2).

It is important for us to identify the affections of God, not only because it helps us remain peaceful in difficult moments but also because it helps us to choose the paths along which God desires us to live in service to him and to our brothers. The path along which we find contentment. Logic alone is not sufficient to reveal to us all that God wishes for each of us. For example, the question of whether we should serve God through married life or celibacy is one that can not be resolved through logic. If it was, we would either all be religious or all be married. By paying attention to the affections that God grants us, we are able to select the kind of life that will bring fulfillment to our lives both in the moment and also in the long run.

The affections of God are always positive. They bring encouragement and consolation. They can happen in response to our actions (even mental actions). They can occur within and outside the confines of the Church. Most importantly, they are NEVER in opposition to the moral commandments (commands 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 …) but are always in sync with the love of people (even sinners). The affections of God are a gift. They can only be, acknowledged and accepted. They cannot be pursued, although it is sensible to keep doing the things that bring us the positive affections of God.

But we have to add a caveat, the affections of God are unmistakable but human imagination can be deceptive. We can be deceived into believing that an affection which is good (e.g affections from music or nature) is ungodly or that an ungodly affection is good e.g bodily pleasures as affections of God. This is how in the ancient world and even today to a certain extent sensual pleasures were associated with God such that temple prostitution could become a form of worship. But we may also ignore the affections of God because we do not recognize that these affections are coming to us as a gift from God.

God desires us to know that he is affectionate. He has loved us in his ‘feelings’ even before he showed us his love in his actions (through the death of his son). And when he allows us to experience his affections here on earth. It is a foretaste of the deep affections that we shall enjoy when we come to be with him in heaven.

We could also be living at a point in which we are not able to receive the affections of God at all. This can happen either because we are living in sin, guilt and regret or because God is strengthening our will. In either case, we must keep trying to do that which we know is good. Seeking God through the sacraments, through confessions of our failings. In time, God will pour out his affections on all who seek him with a sincere heart and will bring them to the fullest experience of his deepest affections. I also want to add that it is important to seek God through our Faith even though we might encounter his affections outside the Church. It is through the graces the Christ gives through his Church that we are able to perceive any affections of God at all.

Who is You? Totus Tuus; Why you should ? Why you shouldn’t ?

When I was about 10 years old, we received news that a much beloved brilliant and exuberant cousin had passed on. I had already come to know that faith can move mountains even bringing the dead back to life. I mastered all the faith I could and pleaded with God, commanded him to bring my cousin back to life. Having prayed; I waited for the news with hope; My beloved cousin has risen ! Oooh man.

I had not yet understood that God being all wise and knowledgeable may not always agree with what we think is right and must happen. And that; for that reason, he may refuse to grant our request because much as we may desire, our request may not be the best for all involved. I knew little about how God works. Today, I know a little more, but I am still on a journey to knowing God and understanding how he works in the world.

In the book of exodus (Ex 32); God reprimanded the Israelites for making a Golden calf. He had already forbidden the Jews from worshiping other gods (Ex 20). But this was a situation in which they felt abandoned by Moses. It is possible some of them even reasoned Moses was probably dead. They make the Golden calf, not because they want to Worship another god. They are looking for the God who took them out of the land of Egypt. Having made the calf, they can feel secure and close to him, and they exclaim “This is your god, Israel, who brought you out of the Land of Egypt” Ex 32:4b. And Aaron even proceeds to prepare a festival for the “Lord”. With all their heart they were worshiping the God who took them out of Egypt with mighty deeds. But they had reduced him to something that he was not! A golden calf. And this was also particularly dangerous because calf was symbolic of deities in the ancient world. Aaron could have conceived this idea through his knowledge of other religions of his time.

When we reduce God to a “golden calf” like the Israelites of Exodus, we end up with a poor/bad picture of who God is and how he works and set ourselves up for big disappointments like the one I had when I prayed fervently for my cousin.

If a person says Totus Tuus(All yours) when they think God is some “golden calf”, a money or good luck machine or a capricious individual; their actions will reflect that picture. Instead of working and making effort to learn, they spend their day commanding God to give them promotions, jobs, and money. In extreme cases, people attempt to force others to convert including by threatening, injuring and killing them. This has happened to abortion clinics and gay clubs. Another extreme is a rejection of God who having been perceived is being capricious, and mean minded is rejected altogether since accepting him would seem to be capitulating to evil and “slavery”. The Spirit of Totus Tuus is behind a lot of abuse that takes place in religion today. Evangelical churches are particularly vulnerable because their Pastors often have supreme control of how to describe the person of God and how he works.

In case you do not know, “Totus Tuus” is the latin translation for “All yours”. It was the motto for St Pope John Paul II. It is similar to the statement of Mary, “May it be done to me according to your word” and to a lesser extent to the statement proclaiming Jesus as “personal Lord and Saviour”. It is also similar to the Islamic saying “Insha Allah”. It expresses a total surrender to the will of God, trustful that his will is always directed to our good in the end.

Totus Tuus has two sides to it. The first is what happens outside of us beyond our control. What we see or hear happening around us and on the news. Is there fighting in Congo? Did Trump depot a gang member? Was a very good politician in your neighborhood assassinated? Did someone relieve you of your wallet this evening downtown. Did a Priest do or say something today that was terrible. Did the Pope issue an edict that was nauseating and unbecoming of his role. Totus Tuus teaches us to hold that everything that has happened was allowed by God to take place. It teaches us that if he did not permit, the Pope would not even have the energy to lift his hands up and sign that declaration, however much he wanted to.

The second part of Totus Tuus is in our response. Totus Tuus asks us to always respond to everything in the way that God desires. Everything we see and witness is God’s invitation for us to respond as his servants who work to bring the good of his Kingdom. It is in this response that we become and are affirmed as children of God. If we do not respond correctly, we can receive condemnation like the rich man in the parable of Lazarus (Lk 16:19-31). Totus Tuus asks of us to be loyal and faithful servants of God even if it means giving up our life.

It is this part of Totus Tuus that is fraught with challenges. At one extreme are those who believe in doing nothing, because they cannot oppose the almighty power of God. According to them it is good to abort because God knew it would happen and allowed it. This group also includes us when we rationalize, normalize, and sanitize evil. On the other extreme are the people who go to great lengths to ensure that the will of God is done. Those who bomb gay clubs, attack abortion clinics, cut off people’s ears (Lk 22:50), call down fire on entire villages (Lk 9:54). That also includes us when we celebrate the attack on abortion clinics, the bombing of gay clubs or the demise and suffering of an evil dictator. There is nothing good in the death of a sinner or in attacking and wounding those who promote evil.

In the middle of these extremes lies most of us for whom Totus Tuus presents itself in a painful and difficult way. Seeming to ask of us to give up the small joys and pleasures of life. Or give up control of our lives and become reserved to a miserable existence in which what we feel does not matter. The God we know about today seems to ask of us that which is unreasonable. And yet our Christian journey continuously calls us towards saying Totus Tuus, walking in the path of the great Saints who we desire to emulate deeply. The unhealthy tensions cause some of us to reserve Totus Tuus for tomorrow.

Should you say Totus Tuus ? Eventually, yes, you should say Totus Tuus. Because in the end, when all is said and done, we will come to realize that God permitted the most painful things for our good. God works in a counter intuitive way. The Babylonian exile of the Jews for example literally meant that God was weaker than the Babylonian gods. But looked at in retrospect, we can see that the Babylonian exile cemented God as the controller of all the universe. Of all peoples and nations. In Babylon he showed his mighty power and will by subduing Nebuchadnezzar making him eat grass like an animal (Daniel 5:20-22). He commanded King Cyrus to order the return of the exiles and build a temple in Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 36:22-23). It was in Babylon that the Jews came to fully appreciate God as God of all the Earth, not a territorial God of Jerusalem. In Babylon they learnt that God was with them even in foreign lands, working mighty miracles and protecting them. It was in Babylon that the synagogues were born which were to become important tools of religious education. This religious education was important in preparing the Jews for the coming of the Messiah. But at the time of the fall of Jerusalem, it looked like the end, For Yawheh it was just the beginning of another chapter.

Should you say Totus Tuus?, maybe not yet. If you think that God is limiting your enjoyment with arcane rules. If the idea of surrendering to God makes you feel sad or feel like you have to give up certain things you like, absolutely not yet. If saying yes, means wishing others the wrath of God, wishing them death because you think they are depraved sinners, not yet. If you are not ready to endure the suffering of good people without wishing those who cause that suffering evil like Mary did with Jesus on the cross and those who executed him. You are not yet ready. Totus Tuus requires us to see good and the potential for good even in our evil enemies; to pray and work for their good and to respect their conscience and capacity to reason. St John Paul II is credited with destroying communism in Eastern Europe. But his appointment was okayed by the communist leaders in Poland who had veto rights over Church appointments of Bishops. This fact probably happened because he chose to look at them as human beings with dignity and did not seem to them like a rabid opponent. Really effective interventions are rarely loud.

When you are ready to say Totus Tuus, you will not have to speak it. It will come in many small ways consistently. Totus Tuus is the statement of a faith that has matured. A faith which has learned to thank God for all and like Mary to ponder patiently about the meaning of things not understood because in everything there is the invisible hand of God.
But we can all say, have mercy on us sinners and show us the way. Have compassion on us in our suffering and challenges. We can say, help us to see your loving hand in all things especially those that pain us deeply, so that like St Paul we can praise you because you make all things work for the good of us who you deeply love (Romans 8:28)!. We can be trustful of the great mercy of God and of Jesus the good and gentle teacher who leads each of us gently, mindful of our fears and misconceptions. We can be confident in his mercy to help us to come to an understanding of the truth in time and to say Totus Tuus with all our heart and all our mind.

NOTES:

Direct quotations from the New American Standard Bible

Why I am abandoning traditional search engines.

When Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT were first released, I experimented with bard and then gemini for a while; I noted some limitations but was impressed by its capabilities. But that use led me to refer to the Apostle’s creed as the Nicene creed for a significant amount of time. It was something which caused me embarrassment upon discovering. LLMs are especially bad because they have subtle lies. Outright lies are easy to detect. Subtle lies just slip under. After that incident, I stopped using LLMs.

Unfortunately LLMs migrated into my regular search, giving me really impressive, confident, irresistible and ‘useful’ summaries. It came first to Google Search and Bing. Then I migrated to Brave Search only occasionally checking Google for references. After a while, Brave Search also introduced Leo, spewing out beautiful summaries of what potentially does not exist, full with references. I felt angry and helpless. I tried to ignore the summaries but that did not seem to work. Then I tried turning it off. But I don’t know what happened. The LLM summaries just kept coming my way. It’s just too tempting, like a beautiful woman begging to flirt with you.

In the end, I started getting complacent, peeping into the AI summaries every so far often. One day, I searched for “when did the pillar of cloud leading the Jew disappear”. Behold there was a beautiful summary, almost relieving. But then, I decided to double check the results and I became angry. The answer to this question can be inferred from the fact that the pillar of cloud and fire was the primary campus for the Jews in the desert. When they entered the promised land, they would obviously not need the pillar of cloud. And what I needed was to find a Bible verse that made this reference to the end of this pillar of cloud and dust. And I got a beautiful summary (see image), complete with Bible quotations and references.

To summarise for you the result of my double checking; the basic premise of the summary was plausible (probably correct). But the Bible quotations did not support the summary. The referenced documents spoke about the subject matter but did not speak about the particular aspect. Some of the Bible verses could perhaps be used to justify the conclusion. But then, the logic would have to be inductive and not include such “phrases” like “specifically”. I have not found a Bible verse which specifically states when the pillar of cloud disappeared. But the AI was very confident and very specific about when it did. I was almost tempted to use the Bible quotations as a justification for that conclusion. Almost!

The reality is that we are all vulnerable to information that is nicely presented and projected with confidence. We perceive such information as coming from an expert and a fact that makes us even more gullible. At the same time, when we do a web search. We do so because we do not know. Worst of all when we meet a presentation that is referencing other sources, we are primed to believe what has been stated because we have been trained to know that when a person supports an assertion with a reference. That assertion must be right because they have taken their time to do their research. The only people who check references are skeptical reviewers intent on destroying an argument they do not believe. Most people rarely check references. Only people with an in depth knowledge in a specific field will make the attempt to check a reference, and that will only be done a small fraction of the time when they find that the assertions made seem wrong.

We search the web because we do not know. Most of the things we search for are not in our field of expertise. We are therefore rarely well placed to criticise an answer especially one that is well written and presented with confidence. For this reason, over reliance on AI will inevitably lead to the incorporation of half truth and lies into our knowledge base and dataset having believed a summary which is quoted.

I have gone shopping for alternatives to the traditional search engines (google, bing, and brave). It turns out there are many search engines out there, some of which use other search engines to process queries. It turns out there are over 24 search engines one can use. For the time being, I have settled on qwant.com and swisscow.com. If these also start providing automatic AI summaries, I will look for others. If the regular search engines can remove the experimental disclaimer on their summaries, I will come back to using them.

You can find out more about the different search engines. I know about AI, I want a plain search engine, which will not throw information that looks plausible but is unsupported by references. Even if AI summaries are not a result of hallucinations but are the genuine extraction of information from sources which my intuition suggests is not. The AI summary gives credence to those sources and may realize a conclusion that is not entirely true.

When the major search engines have the confidence to remove the experimental label and warning to search the results. I will go back to use them.

Appendix

screen shot of the search

Notes

Joshua: 1:13 “Remember the command that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you after he said, ‘The Lord your God will give you rest by giving you this land.’ “

Does not tell us that the pillar of cloud disappeared or that they entered the promised land.

Joshua 5: 10-12 “On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, the Israelites celebrated the Passover. 11 The day after the Passover, that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land: unleavened bread and roasted grain. 12 The manna stopped the day after[a] they ate this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate the produce of Canaan.”

We can use this to ascertain when the jews stopped receiving manna from heaven. It does not tell us when the pillar of the cloud disappeared.

You can continue the breakdown if you wish. But take the first reference Wikipedia is a generic reference to the pillar of cloud. It does not talk about the disappearance of the cloud using either deductive or inductive logic.

I do not have the appetite to continue an in depth analysis of this nonsense. The summary is not anything close to summary.

Alternative search engines.

Fiducia Supplicans: A reflection

Introduction

1. Fiduchia Supplicans, the declaration by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith on the Pastoral meaning of Blessings shocked many people and has precipitated many criticisms even by high-ranking members of the Church. Many people believe that including gay couples as potential recipients of pastoral blessings is heretical and will mislead people about salvation.

By signing the declaration, the Holy Father closed the door to antagonistic debates, especially those casting alternative opinions as insufficient or defective. Nevertheless, because of the criticisms encountered a respectful sharing of perspectives in union with the directive can be helpful. Even though the Declaration is clear, alternative perspectives can help some people come to a more faithful understanding.

2. Fiducia Supplicans is a practical document. It only goes into detail sufficient to justify what it asks for counting on the shared Faith. Because of its practical nature, it leaves in its trails a lot of implications about sin, the process of salvation, the meaning of salvation, the human person, freedom and even political conduct. It for example implicitly suggests that the criminalization of homosexuality is immoral. It also suggests that conversion therapy may be the wrong course of action. It suggests that any effort to transform the person must proceed by considering that the other person (partner) has something good in them. The most consequential of implications is the acknowledgment of gay relationships. They do exist. This is something that Pope Francis has reiterated as a fact. We can also note that the Catechism in section 2358 also implicitly acknowledges the existence of gay relationships in acknowledging the rather the deep-seated tendency towards among a non negligible number of people.

It is because of this trail of implications that many people have opposed it vehemently. It is deeper and I will dare to say richer than it immediately appears to be, capable of reaching to the very heart of the Gospel and of the evangelization of those living in habitual sin who seek grace. For its depth, it deserves a thorough analysis that goes back both to the gospel and at the same time to the human person in their entirety uniting the Gospel with the lived experience of the pilgrim.

Such a thorough unbiased analysis is also relevant because many good and good willed persons oppose it in good Faith. It is not easy to digest, and the Pope in allowing it through must have gone to the very bottom of his I would say very deep heart. But it is also relevant, because such an analysis can help to address perpetual social issues that plague political discourses and politicians presenting diabolical choices requiring such wisdom that only Christ exhibited in his interactions with the Pharisees. It is for this reason that this document will also be tagged as political.

3. I had wished to embark on writing such a piece before publishing this shorter “biased” version. However, I came to appreciate that I do not have sufficient time to undertake such a project within the time frame I would have desired. God willing, I will come back to address this issue in the future.

As I wait to complete that, I will share this version. It is for you, if you have faith and hope also in the office of the Pope and have found it difficult to understand how the Pope could allow such a proposition. It is for you if you believe and want to believe more and understand. Since it assumes some level of faith-in and good-will towards the Pope it is NOT for you if you are vehemently opposed to Pope Francis or have doubtlessly rejected the declaration. Your’s would be the ‘unbiased’ version which will come in future God willing.

In case it is of interest and helpful, I am a husband and Father in the ‘traditional sense’ just for avoidance of ambiguity. I have a Ms Degree in Information Technology and Bachelors in Food Science. But I am many things, with wide knowledge in a number of areas. Interested in philosophy, theology, psychology and many other fields.

God is Almighty

4. One of my clan-grandmothers (RIP) suffered immense ridicule because she was barren. Twice, she attempted suicide. On the first occasion, she saw a man in a white garment as she was about to let go of the rope to hang herself. On the second occasion, she fell asleep as she waited to pass over water by train so she could jump off and drown. Eventually, with the help of some herbs given by certain relatives, she gave birth to three sons.

There is nothing in this universe that happens that God is not aware of, even remotely. It is a question of faith to hold that God permits all that has happened to take place and that all of that is for the good of those who love God as St Paul teaches us. So that in the end, all can say Jesus Christ is Lord. God is almighty. Jesus reminds his disciples of this on many occasions.

The story of Saul turned Paul is a testament to the jealous protection that Christ gives his Church. Christ (the new Adam) protects his bride the Church in a way that counters Adam’s failure from protecting Eve in the garden of Eden (Gen 3:6). In Adam’s failure, Eve became the mother of those “dead to sin”. In Christ’s victory, the Church becomes the mother of the living. Christ will not permit the Church to become the mother of the dead.

5. We need to be conscious of this fact because God is the guide and protector of the Church. Whatever he has permitted to happen to and in the Church, is to help the Church in her work of evangelizing until the end of time. Nothing happens without God allowing it to happen, not a random accident or a deliberate suicide. Since the Holy Father has the charism to lead and guide the Church, we are bound by Faith and charity to read positively his non infallible but authoritative judgments. Some judgments are made outside the confines of infallibility precisely because they can’t be applied universally.

A question of Salvation

6. At the heart of the criticism of Fiduchia Supplicans is a fear that it opens alternative avenues for salvation that do not require achieving moral perfection or encourage people to strive for moral perfection. In so doing, it misleads and will cause some people to lose their salvation.

For those who criticize Fiducia Supplicans, moral perfection is the starting point of salvation. They draw heavily from concepts in the encyclical Veritatis Splendor (Splendor of Truth) written to address relativism within the Church. For them, blessings must follow a commitment to moral perfection. Moreover, gay relationships are particularly depraved and irredeemable to justify any blessings.

It is important to note that Fiduchia Supplicans recognizes this obligation of commitment to moral perfection and presents safeguards to prevent the misuse of pastoral blessings. In some ways, it can even be argued that Fiducia Supplicans introduced guard rails to a practice that was already happening in some parts of the world.

It would be helpful to note that unlike Pope John Paul II, a ‘natural’ philosopher, or Pope Benedict XIV, a ‘natural’ theologian, Pope Francis is a Pastor at heart. He deeply knows the difference between people who justify their sins because they are corrupt and those who are miserable sinners trapped in a bondage they do not fully understand. Each of these Pontiffs brought their unique giftings to the Church according to the providence of God just like each of us is called to bring our gifts for the benefit of all.

7. The encyclical Veritatis Splendor expounding on the conversation between Jesus and a certain rich young man concludes that salvation requires objective moral perfection as a prerequisite. Apart from this, there are at least three other passages where Jesus directly addresses the issue of salvation. The first is with Nicodemus (Jn 3), the second is with the Samaritan woman (Jn 4:13-14), and the other is with the Jews (Jn 6:35-40). The second and third incidents relate to Jesus as the source of life, the water that is a living fountain, and the food that comes down from heaven which all reference the Eucharist in one way or another.

The first references and brings to fulfillment Old Testament scripture. It draws from passages in Jeremiah (Jer 31:31-34) and Ezekiel (Ez 36:24-29) that lament the inability of Israel to keep the law because of their stony hearts and promises a new heart. This inability is due to a deficiency in humanity caused by the sins of Adam and Eve. God promises his people a new heart through rebirth by water and the spirit. This rebirth with water and spirit will give people the grace of new life that will enable them to obey the commandments and facilitate the establishment of the everlasting Kingdom of the son of David. For Christians, this re-birth is through the sacrament of Baptism. Pope John Paul II is mindful of this grace when he says every Christian should be free of grave moral failings.

No one can achieve moral perfection without grace. The person who thinks that their perceived moral perfection comes from some thing they do or have done or who they are is only forgiven because they are ignorant. Even our prayers are fruitful only because God has given us the grace, when done without the grace of God, they remain dead and fruitless. First comes grace, then moral perfection. This St Augustine reflecting on the letters of St Paul reminds us, moral imperfection is permitted so that grace might be sought.

St. Paul expresses this mystery of the works of grace about some people abandoned to debauchery because of their idolatry (Rm 1:24-28).

Afflictions of Sin

8. Contrary to expectations, experience tells us that moral imperfection persists among the baptized. St. Paul expresses his frustration about his life of sin (Rm 7:13-24), lamenting a thorn in his flesh given to him to prevent him from becoming too proud (2 Cor 12:7-8).

Afflictions of sin can reflect failures in the community. They mirror positive actions that the individual and community need to take to bring healing and goodness to its members. They mirror challenges along the individuals’ “way of the cross (their way of salvation)” that they have not yet surmounted the courage and strength to confront, but can also be guard rails like in the case of St Paul, protecting people from becoming a reincarnation of Lucifer the proud. They can also be personal challenges and often reflect personal challenges since structural problems in the community will not necessarily cause all persons to commit similar sins. We know all of this because we know that children growing up in dysfunctional families and communities are more likely to turn out delinquent.

9. Being delinquent is destructive and will invariably cause pain. It is an invitation precisely because of such pain to seek and to bring healing to the community. Many people have turned themselves around and brought with them healing and knowledge for the betterment of the community. The good of the community lies with the delinquents because they receive the greatest beatings for the ills of the community. And their healing brings the greatest knowledge, hope, and goodness to the community to the glory of God.

Every affliction of sin should invite reflection, prayer, and repentance for the community and the Church. Each affliction of sin wounds Christ and his Church – each member of the Church. Each affliction is a reflection of pain on the part of the afflicted who are not able to fully experience the joy of living in the grace and love of God.

In the person of Christ

10. “Go and sin no more” the words of Jesus to the adulterous woman (Jn 8:1-11) are quoted by many in criticism of Fiduchia Supplicans. For this school, charity is being truthful to the wayward who need repentance. On the opposite side of the divide are those who reference the hypocrisy of the Pharisees.

What is rarely perceived are the circumstances that enabled the diabolical attack by the Pharisees in the first place. The Gospels do not give us precedent to conclude that Jesus was inclined to save the woman other than by tying strings and stretching logic. For the Jews, adultery was not comparable to tax collection or other sins. There was no reason for the Pharisees to consider such a ploy sufficient to trap Jesus. Yet for reasons not explicitly stated, the Pharisees were confident that Jesus would be inclined to save her. More than us, they understood the extent to which Jesus loved sinners.

It seemed the model of operation for Jesus, showing people that they are loved and valued first. We see this with Zacchaeus who upon being blessed to host Jesus is moved to conversion, repentance, and restitution (Lk 19:1-9). St. Paul reiterates this when he says Christ offered his life so that we might live while we were still sinners. Jesus is the good shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine to search for the one. With his eyes, he sees not depraved sinners but lost sheep and people under bondage.

It is easy to say, “Go and sin no more”, but how many of us would attract the diabolical scheme of the Pharisees?

11. It is helpful to reconsider the human perception that some sins are “greater” or more “depraved” than others. There is no doubt the temporal consequences of sins differ. From the eternal perspective, however, the one who calls his friend a fool and the one who commits adultery will both answer from the fires of hell. To say otherwise denies people an opportunity to remove the log in their eyes and thereby participate in building and healing the body of Christ.

12. Beyond the fact that Jesus deeply loved sinners, looking at them as lost sheep rather than as depraved people. The encounter teaches the human community a crucial but underappreciated lesson.

Communal laws are a source of knowledge, especially for the young whose philosophy about life is developing. Every law and edict must maintain the good as good and the bad as bad. Anything else deceives the young and vulnerable. Young people are vulnerable since they develop a moral compass from the laws and practices within their community. Bad laws not only cause the young wounds by deceiving them about the value of their actions and covering the resulting wounds with bandaids. They also cause more degeneration because young people reason in a straight line.

It is for such reasons that it is immoral to use child soldiers. For them, killing is the same thing. It matters when the opponent is carrying a gun only because the alternative is death. The community has every obligation to ensure that its laws communicate the good as good and the bad as bad.

13. However, not all responses to violations are moral or just. Some responses bring healing neither to the individual nor the community. Instead, they exacerbate and perpetuate problems. This is especially true when the response blinds the community to the root causes of the immoral actions. In such cases, it’s not just the added pain of those harshly treated. It is the pain of those who love and depend on those on whom harsh treatment has been levied and those who will suffer the same harsh treatment because of unaddressed root causes and the misdirected and squandered resources of the community. A community that does not address the root causes of failure among its young will continue to witness failures no matter how they treat the aberrant persons.

Moreover, such harsh treatments are not lost on the community and evoke a counter-response that seeks to nullify and bring justice to those harshly treated. To find such justice, it becomes necessary to reject a law which, although maintaining something good, uses immoral courses of action. In so doing, sometimes what is bad has ended up being portrayed as good and desirable. In the end, we have communities always at war about the good, with precedents overturning precedents.

Our communities must separate moral questions from the proper responses to those questions and evaluate each independently. The community must ask if an action is moral. And then proceed to ask itself how it must respond to an immoral act in a moral way. In a way that achieves the good for all, especially those who have failed or who fail since any immoral action wounds them first.

14. It is precisely for these reasons that the Church must find positive ways to help gay people in communities in which it is difficult to be gay for legal or social reasons. In these places, only the Church can be a sanctuary.

While the Church must do all to cooperate with civil authorities, she cannot celebrate laws blind to the pain and struggles of the wayward or rely on such laws as a primary guide for her Pastors to treat the wayward. Moreover, the Church must be wary of politicians. The power of politics is a magnet for demagogues who neither fear God nor value people or laws but who nonetheless pretend and use the constituents of the Church to usurp power. We see this happening today in many places, despicable things done in the name of God and sometimes of the Church. It is such associations that have caused many to lose their faith in God.

Harsh laws and deterrent penalties can denigrate the law or the people for whom the law is made. They can only be valid if the law is not sensible and can only be implemented through fear or if the people for whom the laws are made are not sensible. In the latter case, we end up with a tiered community, with a certain group of people who are sensible and possess a unique superior capacity to follow and implement the law and another group who due to their lack of sensibility must be compelled by fear to follow the law.

Couples

15. Fiduchia Supplicans has been criticized especially because of the inclusion of “gay couple”. The inclusion of “couple” for some translated to a legitimization of an unnatural unproductive form of sex that cannot produce any positive good subject to blessing. Removing “gay couple” would have made it more acceptable in places where social, economic, and cultural pressures predispose people to family life.

Places where the rainbow lost its naturality and innocence and has become associated with the sexual grooming of young people using funds obtained from Western agencies. In such communities, it would seem like pastoral blessings for gay couples are the door through which homosexuality becomes accepted. For these communities, homosexuality is perceived as degenerate sexual orgies. This concern of legitimization is also raised with reference to organized lobbies that rally people to seek blessings not in search of grace but to legitimize their status.

16. There is no questioning the fact that Fiduchia Suplicans will be abused. If it was not abused, it would have no good. All sin is an abuse of a good in search of a good. For this reason, healing from sin must involve learning to look at the object of sin with its true dignity and purpose. This is true of all irregular unions both gay and straight.

It is precisely from this recognition that in the object of sin there is something good being sought that it becomes possible for us to appreciate that gay relationships can be moved by a love capable of perceiving something good in the other person. And except for its sexualisation, there is nothing wrong or sinful about gay love. And that it is possible for this love to be expressed without sex. This is the foundation of the teaching of the Church that gay people are called to chastity and to a ‘selfless’ friendship. This is the aim and the justification for Fiducia Supplicans. That gay couples can come to have a friendship that is selfless, interested in the true good of the other person.

Fiducia Supplicans differs from other approaches in not assuming to know how this journey will take place. It is trustful of the infinite grace of God who wills freedom for all and makes a way for the very worst of humanity to find salvation. It invites them to seek the grace of God, trustful of the singularity of the grace of God. A singularity which makes it possible that a grace obtained in one avenue of life changes just not that one part but transforms the whole person. It invites them to seek from God a path to a more blessed life which only they can fully know, but not without the help of God. The gay couple must come to God and seek from him the graces to see the highest good in their ‘partner’ so that they can live a life of true selflessness.

17. We note here also that sex is not always a valid expression of love even among married people. The sexualization of love is not just a homosexual problem, it afflicts our community so much that love for a younger person which should evoke sentiments of protection sometimes evokes a sexual urge or a repulsion born of fear. Sex has polarized our community so much that two boys can no longer be just friends. I believe that the sexualization of “gay” love is a problem that originates with the sexualization of heterosexual love. This is why the call to chastity is valid for all.

It is also important to note Fiduchia Suplicans anticipates the possibility of a “gay relationship” that is chaste in forbidding an exhaustive moral analysis of the participants.

18. Pastors have every obligation to discern for those who come to justify their status rather than to seek the grace of God. It is their obligation to bless not unions but people and to discern the blessings sought just like it is with respect to confession. The Pastors’ blessing should be discrete akin to that of the good shepherd (Jn 10:11-18) who seeks out for the lost having “left” the ninety-nine.

In places where social, cultural, economic, and political pressures make it impossible for gay couples to exist, positive avenues of interaction capable of communicating the love of God with respect must be sought. Such pressures cannot be discounted in influencing behaviors and the resulting lifestyles cannot be interpreted as evidence of moral or spiritual superiority. And these communities too are not free from different forms of corruption arising from unique pressures which those communities face. People are responsible for their response to the pressures around given the resources at their disposal.

19. Evangelization can only be fruitful when driven by charity. Charity is always capable of recognizing goodness and capabilities in the beloved and is only moved by such a vision of goodness in the beloved. There is always some good in people however wayward. This is the lesson from the mystery of the incarnation, of a God who sees good in wayward humanity. The darkness of sin is not powerful enough to completely obscure the goodness that God implanted in people. This is true even for corrupt people who will inadvertently judge themselves in their pronouncements.

Any evangelization must appreciate the good in people first and then lead them on from that good. Truth cannot be supplanted in people, not with stern warnings or threats of damnation. It lives in people and must be discovered and nurtured. This is why Jesus maintains that no one can come to the Son except if the Father draws him.

Speaking “truth” as “the premier form of charity” usurps the role of the Holy Spirit who alone lays out a path for each person to get salvation.

The Apostle not seeing any good in a people must not waste their time speaking “truth”. Such a truth is only obsessed with the purity of the law. It does not convict, it condemns. They must therefore formally express their condemnation by dusting off their shoes and proceeding to the next town (Mtt 10:14). And there will be situations where such an action will be necessary and justified.

Conclusion

20. Acts of selfless love which are the perfect expression of discipleship and participation in the life of God (Jn 4:16) are not a preserve of those in moral perfection. God does not deny those without moral perfection the necessary graces to perform such actions or the graces accruing from them. Such actions have the power to purify and strengthen the soul against domination by sin and evil and are always a victory for God.

The Church therefore in granting blessings to the wayward is doing so in conformity to the actions of God and the example of her Master who loved sinners and blessed them while on Earth. Fiduchia Supplicans is only novel in giving a name to a practice that many Pastors in charity have been doing and in including homosexual couples whose sins are perceived as uniquely disordered.

Notes

Edited to add that Fiducia Supplicans implicitly acknowledges the existence of gay relationships to make it clear and make it not necessary to raise an argument in that direction.

Arrivalism: A big cancer in the church

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.