The truths of our faith make responsible living possible says, Fr Chris Hayden
If I had a euro for every time I was asked to keep my homily short, I mightn’t quite have enough for a long weekend in a spa resort, but I’d probably manage a very decent main course in the restaurant. For many Catholics, brevity is, if not the soul of wit, then certainly the soul of compassion: Be kind to us, Father; keep it brief.
There is no such injunction in the Gospel, and certainly not in Mark’s Gospel, where we read that Jesus, in his compassion for the crowd, set about teaching them at some length (Mark 6:34). On that occasion, far from being a harsh imposition, a long homily was a manifestation of our Lord’s compassion.
Teach
Our Church loves to teach. She is not just Mother (mater) but Mother and Teacher (mater et magistra). We can reverse the order and say that our Church teaches to love: her teaching is a manifestation of God’s loving guidance of his people. Culturally, we have been conditioned to regard the claims of a teaching Church as condescending; or worse, to see any kind of dogmatic teaching as an exercise of power and control. But if we’re to take Jesus at his word – at his many words! – then we should acknowledge that culturally, we’ve been sold a pup. Teaching is not a form of bullying – it is a blessing.
What surprised her instead was the general sense that there were no handrails, no clear or definitive guidelines for any area of Christian living”
It’s strange, then, to meet Catholics who seem to have little or no sense that to be a Catholic is to adhere to certain teachings, to hold certain convictions. A friend told me some time ago that she had attended a meeting of Catholics in which everything – everything about Church, about liturgy, about living – appeared to be up for grabs. She pointed out to me that she had not picked up any overt sense of rebellion against teachings, or any rejection of commandments. Culturally, that kind of rebellion would hardly be surprising; but what surprised her instead was the general sense that there were no handrails, no clear or definitive guidelines for any area of Christian living. She was astonished that a group of Catholics could honestly believe that they needed to, or could, make their way along without any reference to what they had received.
Not even a rejection of truth; just a complete lack of awareness that to be a Catholic is to hold to certain truths! If that’s the case, and if the condition is widespread, then we are faced with a fundamental task: to teach that to be a Catholic is to be taught, and that furthermore, being taught is not an infringement on some basic right or dignity, but a great blessing.
Far from tying us down, these headings, and the wonderful detail in which they are elaborated by the Catechism, give us wings”
We should have the good sense to leave aside any clichés about being spoon-fed or infantilised. The truths of our faith do not absolve us of responsibility: on the contrary, they make responsible living possible. Even after we’ve learned to drive, we have to keep our eye on the road and our hands on the wheel. It was our Lord himself who said, “The truth will make you free” (John 8:32), so let’s not imagine that truth is what we need to be freed from, or that truth-claims are covert attempts to keep us in chains.
Truth
If we want a quick synthesis and summary of the truths of our faith, we need look no further than the titles of the four main parts of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: what we believe; how we celebrate what we believe; how we live what we believe; how what we believe leads us to pray. Far from tying us down, these headings, and the wonderful detail in which they are elaborated by the Catechism, give us wings. They map out the Christian life and set us on the joyful, challenging way of discipleship.
We do not have to start from scratch or scratch our heads as we set ourselves to reinvent the wheel. Flip charts and discussion have their place, but we start from what we have been given. So let us be taught – happily taught. And may all our discussion and sharing, all our concern for contemporary context and for relevance, begin with the utter relevance of the treasure that is our faith.