Word to the Wise
Wednesday, June 9, 2010 - Wednesday in the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Kings 18:20-39 and Matthew 5:17-19]Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
For as long as our Church has existed, there has been a tension between the old and the new, between continuity and change. The New Testament shows how this tension manifested itself in the question of maintaining Mosaic observances. The gospel scripture for today contains an example of the concerns of those who believed in Jesus but still considered themselves in continuity with their Jewish tradition. The Acts of the Apostles and St. Paul's letters demonstrate that the process of establishing an identity separate from Judaism began to gather momentum when the mission of the apostles expanded from the area of the Holy Land to other points in the Mediterranean. Non-Jews began to accept the gospel. Should they be required to observe the Mosaic Law. The eventual compromise reached in Jerusalem would gradually give way to the reality of greater numbers of non-Jews. In our own day, the struggle between continuity and change is reflected in the way in which the Second Vatican Council is interpreted. Pope Benedict XVI has been emphasizing that any interpretation must be in continuity with the broader "tradition" of the church. The difficulty many experience with this arises in how one understands the word "tradition." Scholars have long used the idea of tradition with a capital "T" and tradition(s) with a small "t." But, which one applies in any given case? For example, does continuity require the maintenance of certain liturgical practices that seem more a matter of nostalgia than theological substance? Does the ever-changing cultural scene require that we constantly re-invent our worship and belief to suit secular agendas? How do we avoid the accusation that Jesus leveled at the Pharisees about claiming divine sanction for mere human precepts? (Mark 3:13) In a church that numbers nearly a billion members world-wide, with more than 20 separate liturgical "traditions," how does one maintain one Tradition that unites us all in faith? No wonder the papacy has become a crushing responsibility and the Holy Spirit has to work overtime to keep the faith in some semblance of unity. For the majority of pew folk, the whole thing shows up in how the local church allows for custom while reaching out to those who cannot find the expression of their faith in those customs. What is negotiable and what is not negotiable? Perhaps it is this very tension that keeps the Church alive and prevents it from becoming a faith of the past or a fad of the present! AMEN
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