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it. For the son of man will come like
the lightning, which flashes across the
sky from East to West” (Mt 24:26-27).
True, he came as Emmanuel, Godwith-us
(Mt 1:23) and departed saying
‘I am with you always, till the end of
time” (28:20); and he is with us as we
struggle in the sea of life and death (Mt
14). While he has an inalienable central
place in all human history marking it
after himself as BC and AD, he is not
confined to space and time anymore!
He grooms us
We can indeed find him in the
Catholic Church. We have the the
Bible which makes the Word of God
accessible.We have also the Body and
Blood of Christ, his presence and life
shared with us through the sacraments.
By law of nature, higher forms of
life feed on lower forms. Here we
feed on God to become like Him!
As a monument and memorial what
ingenuity! What serves as a memorial
is then dissolved in Communion into
the hearts of men and women! This is
how we are groomed for eternal life
with him.
The Bride and her mission
The Church unashamedly calls
herself ‘The Bride of Christ’ (Act 9:5)
by special gift and legitimacy (Rev
21:2; 22:17). The avowed Mission of
the Church in the world is to be and
to become One, Holy, Catholic and
Apostolic. This is a situation of yes
but not-yet, with a mission inwards
to her own children and mission
outwards to all others. The Church is
the ‘universal sacrament of Salvation’
(Vat II)- established by the Groom
himself to share the goods of Faith and
Hope with all in Charity. “I have other
sheep, them too I must bring to be one
flock and one shepherd” (Jn 10: 11,
16). The Church knows that she has no
monopoly of all truth; the autonomy
of the secular is acknowledged (Vat II).
She has committed mistakes. On behalf
of the Church Pope John Paul II has
openly asked pardon for unduly acting
as a brake on scientific progress, be it
with Galileo Galilei or Charles Darwin.
But She has been a promoter of Science
most often; think of the pioneers of
science like Canon Copernicus, the
Abbot Gregor Mendel or the mystic
Blaise Pascal.
The vision of this mission of the
Church, so clearly outlined now, is no
new discovery of today. But what of the
innumerable crimes against humanity,
Christians have perpetrated among
themselves and against others down
the centuries? The Church of sinners
that we are, we ask pardon of God
and mankind. The ideal was put forth
with clarity at the very beginning of
Christianity. Paul has it: “Finally my
brothers, your thoughts must be wholly
directed to all that is true, all that
deserves respect, to all that is honest,
pure, admirable, decent, virtuous or
worthy of praise”. And he adds: “live
according to what you have learned and
accepted, what you have heard me say
and seen me do. Then will be the God
of peace with you” (Phil 4: 8-9). To this
the Bridegroom, after his own heart,
invites us afresh in our own days. Yes,
He is our Light and our Delight!
“Go Out!”
So the time of waiting for the
Groom’s Day is no idling time (Act 1:
11, Mt 24) (2Pet 3:12). We have a lot
to do. We need ‘Education’, leading
out, drawing out, which includes selfeducation
and life-long transformation.
We should examine and benefit fully by
the credentials of the Church, which is
the gift of the Groom for our growth
and maturity, to reach his stature. WE
need to move from childish credulity
to critical examination to deeper
personal experience, to be “able to give
an account of the hope in us”(1Pet
3:15). We may begin with children’s
belief in Santa Claus, but as we grow,
we should move on to exploding the
commercialized myth, to imitating St
Nicholas in his Christian concern for
the poor.
Other religions
We can learn to deal with other
religions from Jesus’ response to the
Jewish establishment, which was one
of reverence and sovereign freedom at
the same time. He knew the history
of salvation ran through the Jews (Jn
4:22) in himself to all the world (Mt
28:20), ”the light of revelation to the
gentiles and glory of Israel”(Lk 2:32).
He made use of the Temple and the
local synagogues for worship and
teaching but was not confined to these.
He called for worship in Spirit and
in Truth (Jn 4: 24), while he claimed
himself to be the new temple (Mt 12:6)
In our multi-religious world we
must necessarily ask and seek what we
also can learn from other religions.
We all sail in the same boat (mother
Earth) with the same opportunities and
threats. Today to be religions is to be
inter religious; peace between cultures
is an absolute necessity for world
peace. We are happy that the Church,
especially after Vatican II, promotes
this Dialogue and invites all of us to
get involved in this higher education
to promote mutually beneficent coexistence
and beyond to fruitful proexistence.
Buddhist karuna resonates with
Christian compassion often stressed
by Jesus (Lk 6:36; Mt 25; Hos 6:6).
We too can embrace it gladly. Hindu
pantheism and multiple local avatars
(incarnations) (Gita 4:8) would seem
an exaggeration to the Christian.
Yet he can become more aware of
the omnipresence and the universal
concern of God for the salvation of all.
We also can very profitably practise the
Pantanjali (ashtanga) yoga; we too can
cultivate religion “through philosophical
enquiry, ascetical practices, profound
meditation or a flight to God through
love and trust” (Vat II).
Islam might seem to be a drastic
simplification to sheer surrender to
God. As it does not have the concept
of original sin (weak humanity) it does
not have the need for a Redeemer.
Critics allege that Islamic regimes deny
democratic rights to their citizens,
especially to women. Denial of secular
autonomy (Mt 22:21) and legitimate
freedom and human rights would work
against democratic values and human
dignity. Yet we must admire in Islam the
absolute supremacy of God over saints
JIVAN: News and Views of Jesuits in India NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2012 8