This is an exercise in both in what the documents of Vatican II actually said and what true dialogue amongst people can look like. For the actual texts of Vatican II, please visit www.vatican.va.
Me: Thank
you both for coming to dinner tonight! I’m glad that schedules were able to
work out. There is nothing quite like having a bite to eat over drinks in a pub
with friends.
Fully Catholic Friend: I agree. This has been a great evening so far and if it’s okay
with you, I’d like to stay a bit longer to hang out and ask a few questions.
Nominal Catholic Friend: I’m all for it. I’m sure I’ll have a few questions that I’d like
to ask the both of you, too, as we get into it. First, let’s order another
round of drinks!
Me: Great
idea! I’d like to make sure that we’re on the same page before we start the
conversation. A lot of times these exchanges can get quite heated and we end up
talking past one another rather than to each other. Let’s keep that in mind as
we go about answering each other’s questions. I think that we’re all reasonable
people and our dialogue should reflect that. Our conversations shouldn’t be
about “winning”, but in coming to understand each other’s positions and seeking
the truth together.
FCF & NCF: Agreed.
Me: Let’s
get started then. Who wants to go first with their question?
FCF: I will.
I’ve got some great non-Catholic friends, mostly Jewish and Muslim, and they
are truly faith filled people according to the dictates of their religion. However,
they’re obviously not Catholic and I don’t think that there is anything that we
can or should be learning from them in terms of religious truth. Though I love
them, I feel that inter-religious dialogue is nothing but a waste of time.
Especially since we, as Catholics, claim to have the fullness of truth. Why all
this encouragement for inter-religious dialogue?
Me: Wow, you
start us off with quite a whopper. You are absolutely correct that, as
Catholics, we have the fullness of truth. The church is the pillar and bulwark
of truth and the truth “subsists in the Catholic Church…although many elements
of sanctification and of truth are found outside of its visible structure.”[1]
However, “the Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in these
religions.”[2]
This means that whatever is good, whatever is beautiful, and whatever is true
in these religious traditions, a Catholic can and should be able to affirm them
as well. “The Catholic Church readily recognizes, indeed celebrates, all the
saving and sanctifying graces of God outside the Catholic Church.”[3]
Since truth is truth no matter what, the elements of truth in these other
religions can serve as markers in the right direction to those that are open to
it and willing to follow the truth no matter where it leads. The church
“regards with sincere reverence those ways of conduct and of life, those
precepts and teachings which, though differing in many aspects from the ones
she holds and sets forth, nonetheless often reflect a ray of that Truth which
enlightens all men.”[4]
Important for us to remember is that “we can and should investigate
and learn from the wisdom in other religions.”[5]
You seem to be very confident in your faith and for that I am glad. I share
your same convictions as well. However, we should be able to welcome these
different ways of seeing the truth without thinking that we are losing
something of our own. Nostra aetate
exhorts us to engage in collaboration and dialogue with other religions that “carried out with prudence and love and in witness to
the Christian faith and life, [we] recognize, preserve and promote the good
things, spiritual and moral, as well as the socio-cultural values found among
these men.”[6] By
witnessing in this way, we are sowing the seeds of their hopeful eventual acceptance
of the Gospel. Those of other religions can also witness to us. Sometimes through the course of dialogue and in investigation into
other religious traditions, they “can powerfully remind us of some of the
forgotten riches in our tradition.”[7]
To think that we would be losing something in affirming the truth is nonsense.
“If you are sure of the truth of your faith, you welcome comparisons, confident
beforehand that nothing can threaten your own.”[8]
The key to sharing is that it should be done in charity and without
coercion. What that means is that the church respects the convictions of those
that do not share our Christian faith and does not force anyone to believe. “The
truth cannot impose itself except by virtue of its own truth.”[9]
Again, if someone is open to knowing and learning the truth at all costs, we
should rejoice at the chance to assist them through the answering of their
questions and through the witness of our own lives. If we are concerned about
bringing someone into the fullness of the truth, indeed, we can assert that
“all the Christian grace to be found outside the formal boundaries of the
Catholic Church gravitates toward unity with the Catholic Church.”[10]
NCF: This is
all new to me. I, too, thought that it was useless to dialogue with other
religions; although, I thought it was because Vatican II taught that all were
different paths leading to the same end. Maybe I’m wrong on that one. Could you
go further into explaining the church’s relationship to the Muslims and Jews,
please?
Me: Of
course. In Vatican II’s dogmatic constitution Lumen gentium, the council states that “those who have not yet
received the Gospel are related in various ways to the people of God.”[11]
Again, we must remember that “whatever good is in the minds and hearts of men,
whatever good lies latent in the religious practices and cultures of diverse
peoples, is not only saved from destruction but is also cleansed, raised up and
perfected unto the glory of God.”[12]
The Muslims and Jews have a special spot in relation to the church, slightly
different than the other non-Christian religions, such as Buddhism and
Hinduism. With Buddhists and Hindus, our similarity lies in our common humanity
and ultimate goal. The church affirms this by saying, “God made the whole human
race to live over the face of the earth. One also is their final goal, God.”[13]
Concerning the relationship with
Muslims, the church acknowledges and holds them in esteem for “they adore the
one God, living and subsisting in Himself; merciful and all-powerful, the
Creator of heaven and earth, who has spoken to men; they take pains to submit
wholeheartedly to even His inscrutable decrees.”[14]
Though they do not believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, they hold him
up as one of the greatest prophets and honor also the Virgin Mary, sometimes
called upon with great devotion. The Muslims also “value the moral life and
worship God especially through prayer, almsgiving and fasting.”[15]
As we know from experience, we Christians also worship God through prayer,
almsgiving and fasting. Though over time, there have been hostilities and wars
between Muslims and Christians, even into our own day, what unites us is more
powerful than what divides us and God will bless those in each camp who strive
to work with one another for the betterment of mankind.
The church’s relationship with the Jews
is something altogether different from other non-Christian religions as they
are our elder brothers in the covenant with God. The fact that Christ was a Jew
and came from this Chosen People, is enough to bind Christians and Jews
intimately. In fact, “the Jewish faith,
unlike other non-Christian religions, is already a response to God’s revelation
in the Old Covenant.”[16]
We know that God is faithful to His promises and to His people. “Although the
Church is the new people of God, the Jews should not be presented as rejected
or accursed by God, as if this followed from the Holy Scriptures.”[17]
As St. Paul says in his letter to the Romans, theirs is “the adoption, the
glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises;
theirs the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, is the Messiah”
(Rom 9:4-5 NAB). Acknowledging that
it hasn’t always been a perfect relationship between the church and the Jews,
we can move forward in charity in a new effort towards ever more fruitful
dialogue. The Jews still have a very important part to play in God’s plan of
salvation.
To say that we cannot learn anything
from dialogue with other religions, is simply false, as we can all now
hopefully understand. We must be open to this dialogue in order to have any
chance at improving the world in which we live and in coming to a deeper
understanding even of our own faith. As human beings capable of reason and
given free will, we have a personal responsibility “impelled by nature and also
bound by a moral obligation to seek the truth, especially religious truth.”[18]
How can we seek and come to a fuller picture of the truth, if we fail to
dialogue with others? “We cannot truly call on God, the Father of all, if we
refuse to treat in a brotherly way any man, created as he is in the image of
God.”[19]
Regardless of his religion, each man has a responsibility to seek out the
truth, and to seek it out in charity. Again, if one is open to the truth, he
will no doubt eventually find himself in the bosom of the Catholic Church.
FCF: What an
answer! I wish that I would have brought this up sooner. I didn’t actually know
what was in the documents of Vatican II. I foresee a lot of reading in the
future for me!
NCF: Maybe I
was wrong about what Vatican II taught. I thank you for clarification about the
church’s relations with other religions. It’s great that we can affirm others
as brothers and sisters and I get that from your response. I still think that
they can get to heaven through their own traditions, though. What if in a
person’s search for truth, the dialogue they are having leads them to something
not the truth, or what they think is the truth, but really isn’t? Seems to me
that they can still get to heaven, regardless, as you alluded to above.
I suppose next you’ll tell us that to alleviate their confusion, we
still have to go out and be missionaries to help others see the truth and be
able to articulate soon afterwards, right? How quaint and archaic! I need
another round. Seriously, though, I don’t have time to be a missionary, let
alone want to be one. I feel pretty confident in my own understanding of the
faith, but what business to do I have in sharing it? Why do I have to share it?
FCF: He
brings up a good point at the end. Branching off of something he said, I
thought that missionaries were only religious or members of the clergy, like
nuns and priests. I’m not sure I have the time either. What does the council
say about the role that we have? What can I do?
Me: First
things first, I agree on another round! Now, where were we? Ah, yes, our roles
as laity in the grand scheme of things. There are some items that need to be
clarified before we get into the “meat and potatoes” of missionary work.
We’ve just discussed how the church
views inter-religious dialogue and the esteem she holds for other religions. As
we’ve learned, that does not make them all equal, nor does it mean that the
church is happy to let things be. Those elements of truth found in the
different religions are but markers pointing towards the Gospel. Christ relied
on His Apostles to “Go...and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them
to observe all that I have commanded you” (Mt 28:19-20). Similarly, as we have
been baptized, we have been incorporated into the same role and mission as the
Apostles. Our lives have the “proper and indispensable role in the mission of
the Church” and our “Christian vocation and the Church can never be without
it.”[20]
There are many more laity than there are religious, as we all know, thus we
also share in the responsibility. “No part of the structure of a living body is
merely passive but has a share in the functions as well as life of the body.”[21]
The simple fact of the matter is that Christ relies on every part of His Body,
the church, to show forth His goodness and truth to the world.
We are called in virtue of our
vocation as lay people, to “exercise [our] apostolate in the world like leaven,
with the ardor of the spirit of Christ.”[22]
What that means is that we are called to radiate and bring to the world the joy
within us, namely Christ. We are the foot-soldiers, so to speak. There is a
reason we are called the “Church Militant!” I’m not sure if you guys know this,
but we are able to offer spiritual sacrifices to God every single moment of the
day for the salvation of the world. I’m sure that you’ve heard the expression
“offer it up.” It’s a prime and simple example of our right and duty to fulfill
the religious work in which we have been called, in virtue of being part of the
Body of Christ through our baptism. We have the supreme “responsibility of
working to make the divine message of salvation known and accepted by all men
throughout the world.”[23]
Through our receiving of the sacraments, we are strengthened to carry out this
mission. The sacraments can be thought of as “health packs” to regain full
health, like in some of the video games you like to play. I’m sure I don’t have
to tell both of you, but our participation in the mass and liturgical
activities is of the utmost importance in our lives. When we participate in the
mass, it is like getting our marching orders to fulfill our mission. We first must
be immersed in the faith in order to live it out.
We are called to live out our
particular vocation with conviction. In fact, we must “develop earnestly the
qualities and talents bestowed on [us] in accord with these conditions of life,
and [we] should make use of the gifts which [we] have received from the Holy
Spirit.”[24]
We each have talents and gifts particular to our person. If we don’t develop
these talents and gifts and share them with others, we’re no better than the
servant who buried his talents in the dirt. If God has given us talents, we
should use them out of love and offer what we have back to Him.
NCF: You
seem to be drifting off topic. What does this have to do with missionary
activity?
Me: Be
patient! I’m getting there. Stay with me. Our goal as members of the church,
“and of all its members, is primarily designed to manifest Christ’s message by
words and deeds and to communicate His grace to the world.”[25]
Sometimes the greatest witness is through the daily tasks that we perform. “Our
best arguments arise not from a memorized handbook, but from a faith that is
deep and robust.”[26]
As I mentioned above, our immersion in the faith must be thorough and
thoughtful. When we are living our faith in the midst of the world, we may inadvertently
show someone the answer to a deep seeded question they may have. “Sometimes we
may answer in a single breath; but we must also answer with our entire lives.
For we are servants, like Christ. We are witnesses, like His holy Apostles.”[27]
As such, we are given many opportunities by God to exercise our mission in this
regard.
In addition to using our lives as
witness to the Gospel, we are also encouraged to look for “opportunities to
announce Christ by words addressed either to non-believers with a view to
leading them to faith, or to the faithful with a view to instructing,
strengthening, and encouraging them to a more fervent life.”[28]
As laity, placed in a world that so desperately needs Christ, we must do our
part to do all we can to improve the temporal order. Indeed, it is part of
God’s plan that all men should work towards that end. The temporal order, with
all of those things which make it up, “aid in the attainment of man’s ultimate
goal, but also possess their own intrinsic value…this natural goodness of
theirs takes on a special dignity as a result of their relation to the human
person, for whose service they were created.”[29]
We are servants!
Remember that everything that God made is good, even though at
times we humans misuse those goods. Again, our state in life as lay people is
an important and necessary apostolate of the church. We have more contact with
those who are not Catholic, or folks less than stellar in the practice of their
Catholic faith, than many priests and nuns. Thus, we have more of a chance to
manifest the kingdom. Our work and activity in this regard is becoming more
important. “We have many reasons to believe. We have plausible, good, and
beautiful reasons to believe. And many of our friends, neighbors, and coworkers
are desperate to find a reason to believe. Our words and our lives should give
ample reasons.”[30]
Perhaps we would do well to remember the witness of St. Francis of
Assisi. Even though he was not a layman, we must hold him up as an example for
our own lives, whose faith and life gave ample reasons for belief in the Gospel
and who almost single-handedly reformed the church of the Middle Ages. Our
calling in light of our faith, like St. Francis’, carries great responsibility
and gives mankind “a framework of meaning that imparts the strength to serve,
that creates an interior freedom from the world and thereby gives individuals
the ability to live and work unselfishly.”[31]
We have a duty and the privilege to do what we can in service to the church,
wherever we find ourselves. The church “needs our commitment in the struggle to
bring forth good fruit on her land and…this is a task for mankind as a whole.”[32]
FCF: I think
I can see where you are going with this. You’re going to start talking about
how this lay apostolate you’ve been describing relates to missionary activity
now, aren’t you?
Me: You are
correct. And actually, I’ll just be fleshing out a few more things concerning
missionary activity. We’ve gone over a few items already in describing our own lay
apostolate.
NCF: It’s
about time.
Me: I
needed to establish a baseline so that you would be able to understand why it
is important for us to witness with our lives first and allow that fruit to
grow. Our mission activity consists in our dialogue with other religions and in
our daily witness at work, at home, and in society. We don’t have to
necessarily go to another country to be missionaries. We can be missionaries in
our own backyard through our lives, in our own lay apostolate. However, the
parts that we play in the mission of the church must be conducted according to
the church. What she says concerning missionary work should absolutely be
considered in light of what we have discussed so far.
The church has always been
“missionary by her very nature, since it is from the mission of the Son and the
mission of the Holy Spirit that she draws her origin, in accordance with the
decree of God the Father.”[33]
Everything that the church is ordered towards involves the spreading of the
Gospel to all nations. Following her Divine Spouse, the church must “walk the
same path on which Christ walked: a path of poverty and obedience, of service
and self-sacrifice to the death, from which death He came forth a victor by His
resurrection.”[34]
Take special note of how the church is to follow Christ: We, as members of this
body, are called to self-sacrifice and service. Only when we lie spent from this
divine work are we truly able to experience the glory and graces of the
Resurrection. This is our missionary calling.
The “particular undertakings by
which the heralds of the Gospel, sent out by the Church and going forth into
the whole world, carry[ing] out the task of preaching the Gospel and planting
the Church among peoples or groups who do not yet believe in Christ”[35]
can be defined as mission work; evangelization being the primary reason and
purpose. The establishment of new and particular churches in those mission
territories is only the beginning. Even the new mission territories are called
to engage in their own unique mission work, bringing their own charisms and
strengths to the effort of evangelization. The new mission territories “should
participate as soon as possible in the universal missionary work of the
Church.”[36]
Catholic unity is perfected with each expansion, showing forth the sanctity of
Christ’s church as the Gospel is continually spread.
God wants all men to be saved and to
know His Son, Jesus Christ. We must be willing, indeed are commanded, to share
the Gospel with others! No one said it would be easy! Even St. Paul had to
remind the earliest Christians to do their part in the mission of the church.
He reminds and implores these Christians how important it is to announce the
Gospel. “But how can they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how
can they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear
without someone to preach?” (Rom 10:14). It’s pretty clear that this is nothing
new for the church and has always been her call.
This also points back to our earlier conversation regarding
inter-religious dialogue. Though God can lead those who do not know the Gospel
to faith “without which it is impossible to please Him, yet a necessity lies
upon the Church, and at the same time a sacred duty, to preach the Gospel.”[37]
Our love of God should drive us towards this important work. The final purpose
of missionary work is to fulfill the plan of God “that the whole human race
might form one people of God and be built up into one temple of the Holy Spirit
which, being the expression of brotherly harmony, corresponds with the inmost
wishes of all men.”[38]
In order to fulfill what it truly means for us to exist and to experience the
fullness of our humanity, we need Christ. It’s that simple.
NCF: So
people are experiencing less of their humanity without Christ?
Me: Not
necessarily. Think of it this way: there are many cups of different shapes and
sizes. Some are bigger than others, some are smaller. If you were to fill to
the brim one of the smaller cups, you would still have a full cup, correct? Think
of the church and our Catholic faith as the biggest cup in the set. When full
to the brim, there is vastly more in the cup than in the smaller cup, yet each
are totally filled. The capacity for experiencing our humanity in light of
Christ and the church is like the big cup. This is why it is so important that
we evangelize and do mission work - so everyone can have the biggest cup
available and be able to fill it to the brim and thus be able to experience
their humanity to the fullest.
FCF: That’s
a pretty cool analogy. Then what does mission work itself consist of, according
to the church?
Me: Like I
mentioned before, we are called to be an example to the world in our everyday
deeds and way of life. Our faith should never just be a “Sunday thing.” If we
are serious about our faith, it will permeate every aspect of our lives. We
need to help the world to awaken to “that truth and charity which God has
revealed.”[39]
By working together with those who do not share our beliefs, we serve each
other. In this way, the “mission of the Church will show its religious, and by
that very fact, its supremely human character.”[40]
Again, we have a chance in our everyday lives to announce the Gospel through
any number of settings and situations.
However, if we are called to be
foreign missionaries, we must be coworkers with God and “raise up congregations
of the faith such that, walking worthy of the vocation to which [we] have been
called, [we] may exercise the priestly, prophetic, and royal office which God
has entrusted to [us].”[41]
The presence of such a community bears witness to Christ and thus is able to
affect every facet of life. However, this is not enough. The purpose of the
laity is to “announce Christ to their non-Christian fellow citizens by word and
example, and to aid them toward full reception of Christ.”[42]
Sound familiar? No matter where we are, our missionary witness will be of the
utmost importance.
FCF: That
make sense.
NCF: I guess
I can see that. Since we seem to have a big hand in mission work now, how does
that affect the religious and clergy? Do they just get to sit back and only do
the bare minimum now?
Me: All
clergy, priests and religious still have a big hand in missionary work. It’s
not just completely on us as laymen! After all, who will be running or
sponsoring the missions and making available the sacraments for the laity?
Deacons also can play a large role when numbers of priests are low. It goes
without saying that proper catechesis, education, and training should be
undertaken in order to more effectively give a true witness to the Gospel. In
turn, those who have undertaken this education are sent to teach as “qualified
ministers, who are to be prepared in due time in a way suited to the conditions
of each church.”[43]
However, lay people can also serve as qualified ministers after going through
the same type of educational process since “the church has not really been founded,
and is not yet fully alive, nor is it a perfect sign of Christ among men,
unless there is a laity worthy of the name working along with the hierarchy.”[44]
FCF: This
has been a very enlightening conversation. I hate to break it up, but it is
getting pretty late. There was so much that I thought I knew. You’ve really
challenged me to look at these documents for myself and get a better handle on
what the church says about other religions and mission work.
NCF: Though
I still disagree on some points from earlier in our conversation, I think I am
starting to see at least why it’s important, in theory, to actively do mission
work. For that I am thankful. I’m also thankful that you’ll be picking up the
tab! Let’s do this again soon.
Me: I
agree. And I am glad to pick up the tab, if only for tonight! Let me leave you
with one more tidbit concerning why inter-religious dialogue and thus
missionary activity in our lives is so important. “As members of the living
Christ, incorporated into Him and made like unto Him through baptism and
through confirmation and the Eucharist, all the faithful are duty-bound to
cooperate in the expansion and spreading out of His Body, to bring it to
fullness as soon as may be.”[45]
Great talk! Good night, guys.
[1]
Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen gentium (21 November 1964), §8.
[2]
Second Vatican Council, Declaration on the Relation of the Church to
non-Christian Religions Nostra aetate
(28 October 1965), §2.
[3]
Richard John Neuhaus, Catholic Matters:
Confusion, Controversy, and the Splendor of Truth (New York: Basic Books,
2006), 16.
[4]
Nostra aetate, §2.
[5]
Peter Kreeft, Ecumenical Jihad: Ecumenism
and the Culture War (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1996), 79.
[6]
Nostra aetate, §2.
[7] Kreeft, Ecumenical Jihad, 81.
[8]
Kreeft, Ecumenical Jihad, 80.
[9]
Second Vatican Council, Declaration on Religious Freedom Dignitatis humanae (7 December 1965), §1.
[10]
Neuhaus, Catholic Matters, 17.
[11]
Lumen gentium, §16.
[12]
Lumen gentium, §17.
[13]
Nostra aetate, §1.
[14]
Nostra aetate, §3.
[15]
Nostra aetate, §3.
[16]
Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd
ed. (Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference, 2000), 839.
[17]
Nostra aetate, §4.
[18]
Dignitatis humanae, §2.
[19]
Nostra aetate, §5.
[20]
Second Vatican Council, Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity Apostolicam actuositatem (18 November
1965), §1.
[21]
Apostolicam actuositatem, §2.
[22]
Apostolicam actuositatem, §2.
[23]
Apostolicam actuositatem, §3.
[24]
Apostolicam actuositatem, §4.
[25]
Apostolicam actuositatem, §6.
[26]
Scott Hahn, Reasons to Believe: How to
Understand, Explain, and Defend the Catholic Faith (New York: Doubleday,
2007), 137-138.
[27]
Hahn, Reasons to Believe, 193.
[28]
Apostolicam actuositatem, §6.
[29]
Apostolicam actuositatem, §7.
[30]
Hahn, Reasons to Believe, 193.
[31]
Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI, Credo for Today: What Christians Believe (San Francisco: Ignatius
Press, 2009), 135.
[32]
Ratzinger/Benedict XVI, Credo for Today,
136.
[33]
Second Vatican Council, Decree on the Mission Activity of the Church Ad gentes (7 December 1965), §2.
[34]
Ad gentes, §5.
[35]
Ad gentes, §6.
[36]
Ad gentes, §20.
[37]
Ad gentes, §7.
[38]
Ad gentes, §7.
[39]
Ad gentes, §11.
[40]
Second Vatican Council, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World
Gaudium et spes (7 December 1965), §11.
[41]
Ad gentes, §15.
[42]
Ad gentes, §15.
[43]
Ad gentes, §20.
[44]
Ad gentes, §21.
No comments:
Post a Comment