Jesus, the Catholic?

Here He goes again! In today’s Gospel reading (Lk. 4: 21-30), Jesus is showing us that He came not just for His townmates, not just for His fellow-Jews, but for all. Not just for Roman Catholics with a capital "C" but for all non-Catholics as well. He is catholic with a small "c", which means universal, cosmic. Jesus preached about a universal home, a home for one and all. The one and the same home for Catholics, Protestants, Muslims, Buddhists, Jews, and all others. An interfaith, interreligious spirituality and way of life.

The Jewish hearers of Jesus were furious. Exclusiveness and self-righteousness were what they believed in. They tried to get rid of Him, but He miraculously escaped (vv. 28-30). And today, various forms of this resistance still continue. The attitude of holy exclusiveness is still present among quite a number in different denominational groups, and not just during the time of the Crusades – when Catholics were ordered in battle to kill non-Catholics. People still kill one another – in the name of religion!

Creation spirituality or global spirituality is what will ultimately save humanity from destruction. This does not mean the fanatic, self-righteous attempt to proselytize the entire world toward one institutional religion. Rather, it means letting God be God over us all, and submitting to the laws of creation as designed by the Creator of the entire universe.

This means the concerted, collaborative efforts of all religions in responding to the common, universal, human-divine values of Love and Justice that move toward Peace. The small ones who need more care are to be given more care – whoever they are, wherever they are, from whatever institutional religion they belong to. Whether they be families, communities, or nations – in all levels of human need: material, socio-political, cultural, and spiritual.

We must focus more on an interfaith, interreligious, universal creation-centered spirituality and less on exclusivist, ritualistic devotions, like the Feast of the Sto. Niño which was celebrated last Sunday. On the front page of one newspaper the following day was a great, big, colored picture of many Sto. Niño statues, garbed in medieval, European, royal robes. And this was in Tondo at that! First of all, the original, historical Sto. Niño was born in a poor manger, grew up and lived a most simple lifestyle.

The way we are perpetuating the Sto. Niño feast is a naïve, unconscious escape from harsh reality. Christian leaders should stop promoting this. Instead, our leaders should continually awaken the consciousness of our people, especially the poor victims of social injustice, so that together, we can more effectively work for, and be courageous advocates of major socio-economic reforms – especially toward a more equitable distribution of God’s resources, which are meant for all, and not just for a privileged minority.

If we are to be truly committed to the inculturation and contextualization of Christianity in our country, it is high time that we keep focusing our devotions on the adult Christ as the most loving and courageous advocate of social justice and solidarity with the poor. In this connection, I make reference to Joey Velasco’s very meaningful painting, "Hapag ng Pag-asa," with Jesus sharing a meal (symbolic of the Last Supper) with 12 Filipino street children. This was followed by his book on the heart-rending life-stories of those 12 poor children entitled: They Have Jesus. The Stories of the Children of Hapag. No less than a mini-gospel for those seeking God’s way.

Jesus came for just one purpose – to be fully human – and that means the fullness of LOVE. Inspired by this divine incarnation of love, St. Paul insists in our Second Reading for today’s liturgy that when everything is said and done, our greatest spiritual gift from the Lord is love. If I have all other gifts but do not have love, I am nothing. But love is everything. "Love never fails." (1 Cor. 12: 31-13: 4-13).

"The radical breakthrough will come when I love God enough to love His every image on earth, when I see in every broken body, in all starved flesh, in every anguished person, the crucified Christ. Only then will I do what Thomas Merton saw must be done: ‘Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy.’" (H. Nouwen)