Two earthquakes
By Fr.
ROY CIMAGALA,
roycimagala@gmail.com
October 16, 2014
Two items grabbed my
attention these past days. Both commanded intense prayers – of
thanksgiving, expiation and petition. One was the first anniversary of
the 7.2 tremor that hit my beloved province of Bohol, and Cebu where
I’m now assigned.
The other was the Synod of
Bishops on Family now going on in the Vatican, which some observers
also considered as a kind earthquake. Its mid-Synod report generated
quite a heat among many who certainly are seeing things from different
angles.
The Bohol earthquake
destroyed a lot of churches, but it strengthened also the faith of
many. It also brought out the resilient character of the people. It’s
a good reason to be happy and thankful, and to still hope that things,
and the people especially, continue improving.
It’s different with respect
to the Synod. The cracks, potential destruction and havoc it is
producing are so very subtle that many do not even notice them. That’s
why, that gathering to the eyes of many has become more disturbing.
But there is always hope,
and so let’s pray that with the open, candid but respectful discussion
the Pope is promoting in this Synod, the issues would be resolved
properly, with every voice and observation given due attention and
blended, hopefully seamlessly, in one organic, living piece, with the
divine spirit animating it.
It’s not an easy task, of
course. And so we really have to implore the help of the Holy Spirit
to guide our Church leaders to come out with a document that would
make everybody happy. That may sound impossible, or at least
improbable, but hope always springs eternal. We just have to try to be
most receptive to the Spirit’s promptings.
The main issue, to my mind,
is how to fuse together the exclusivity of truth and the inclusivity
of charity. In this regard, it may be useful to keep in mind all
possible leanings and biases people can have and try to craft a
document that would be kind of politically or pastorally correct for
everyone, not favouring one over the other.
We have to presume that
everyone is for God, that everyone is for the truth, charity, justice
and mercy, that everyone is a sinner called to become a saint, etc.
But we have to get real on how each one is in his concrete condition.
Some can be described as
conservatives, others liberal, some saintly and pious, others openly
sinful, some are of the intellectual and theoretical type, others are
more of the pragmatic kind, some steeped more in tradition, others are
of the progressive mould, keen in innovations, etc. We also have
straight and gay people.
This is not to mention that
people are classified according to age, sex, profession, social,
economic and health condition, talents, charisms and other endowments.
Some are healthy, others not, others may even be in the ICU. Everyone
has to be respected, loved and cared for.
Yes, we have to give more
attention and care to the needy, confused and lost but not at the
expense of sacrificing those who are well-off, clear-minded and very
much in the mainstream of orthodoxy.
A way has to be found to
make everyone care for one another, with the better-off giving more to
those who are more in need who actually can also give something
precious, if intangible, to the better off.
Whatever document or comment
or initiative our Church leaders make about his pastoral ministry
should be tactful, avoiding anything that can disparage, much less,
alienate in any way certain sectors. They have to learn to be most
prudent, discreet and delicate especially in their words.
Of course, man will always
be man, still haunted by his weaknesses, mistakes and all that, but
Christ has already come and redeemed us with his death and
resurrection, and all we need to cure what is sick, right what is
wrong, heal what is wounded is already given to us, entrusting the
Church with the power to dispense those means.
It’s right that Christ’s
redemptive work, while already perfect and made available to us, still
remains a mystery that can spring surprises to us. But these surprises
will never be a denial of what is already known and lived by us as
authoritatively taught by the Church, but rather a deepening of those.
We have to revisit the
doctrine on graduality and conversion as articulated in “Familiaris
consotio” and see to it that it does not degenerate into relativism,
which is to make God according to our designs. Everyone needs
continuing conversion, you, me, priests, bishops and even the Pope.
Let’s help one another instead of quarreling.