Catholic means universal, and universal means all inclusive. But what sort of things are being referred to when people praise ‘inclusivism’ in society today and condemn the Catholic Church for not being ‘inclusive?’ Doesn’t the second reading this weekend state that “God shows no partiality?” What does that mean taken in context? What are people referring to when they speak of being inclusive? Ideas? That’s impossible because some ideas exclude others. Are people referring to values when they speak about being inclusive? The same thing is true with values because one person’s values will exclude another person’s values. What the Catholic Church includes is all human beings, all God's children, created in his image and likeness, destined for eternity in heaven. The ministry of the Catholic Church is to every single human being. The big picture for the Catholic Church is truly the big picture.
As the first session of The Search (which hopefully you watched this past week) presented to us, the question of “what we are searching for in this life” was addressed, which specifically spoke to what some call ‘destination addiction.’ Destination addition is the belief that happiness is somewhere other than the present, such as in the next job, place, or partner. And that can lead to an ever-changing belief in what is true and right for me and for another. If we are searching for meaning and for what will bring us joy and feelings of peace and contentment in this life, then maybe we should surrender to a greater understanding of ‘truth.’
God created humanity and our world to be diverse, but truth is not diverse. Unfortunately, many people believe the silly notion that “what's true for you is not necessarily true for me”; that there is no such thing as a universal human nature that we all share; or that human nature is so diverse that there can be no basic moral principles that are based on universal human nature.
Peter Kreeft writes: “you cannot have inclusivism without exclusivism. You have to exclude falsehoods in order to include truths. You have to be intolerant of what is false and harmful to human happiness if you are going to be on the side of what is true and helpful to human happiness. And you have to be absolute about the two absolutes that stem from the very eternal nature of God, namely, truth and love.”
In the Gospel this weekend we have another instance of the truth and love of our God. The true nature of God is that God is love and mercy. The desire of the love of God is to bring ALL people to His truth and to eternal salvation, and that is why God brings the truth to everyone through the Holy Catholic Church. Jesus uses the word ‘Ephphatha,’ be opened, to allow the man to be whole. This is what God desires for all of humanity, and what the teachings of the Catholic Church desire as well.
It would be good for all of us to give more of our time to pray with and for our Church rather than to condemn it. We should strive to use our individual gifts for the greater good of our parish and community, rather than keep them for our own good, and give more of our finances so that others may hear and see the truth of our Catholic faith. We are called to be a Church on mission; to be disciples who disciple others and not just those close to us and those we agree with about certain issues. Be open to practicing the Stewardship way of life, and be opened to the Truth about God and the Catholic Church!
God Bless,
