Jesus said to his disciples, "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.
The Word in other words
When our lives and even that of the Church's are ranged against the demands and standards of the Gospel, they will always fall short. There will always be a big gap between the fulfillment of its demands and the expectation inherent in the demand. No wonder the theme of conversion is a constant one. It is because we try to do as much as we can. This also gives reason why reforms are a never ending desire and dream of an individual and of the church. It is because we have done enough or we have veered off far enough from our goal. The church is semper reformanda, as the saying goes.
Reforms have also dotted the history of the church. The religious orders like the Benedictines (they put order into the prayer life of the church), the Franciscans (they pushed for simplicity into the lifestyle of the church), the Dominicans (they revived the primacy of the word and its preaching), the Agustinians and Carmelites (they mined the ideals of their founders and applied them to their actual situations) --- they have all contributed in bridging the gap between reality and the Gospel demand. The Councils at Pisa (1490), Constance (1414-1418), Sienna (1423-1424), Basel-Ferrera-Florence (1431-1439) and Lateran V were all aimed at strengthening the unity within the church by the conciliar definition of papal primacy in its legal and political senses. A stronger leadership meant a credible one and therefore would inspire.
When Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio as elected to the Papacy and had acted or spoken with what could be construed as novelty, even if in the same mold as John Paul II and Benedict XVI, the clamour for reform within the Curia and in some other areas of Church governance and teaching became even louder.
The above examples are just small snippets at how the church tried to fulfill the demands of the gospel. Definitely, they are inspiring stories because they show the human spirit at its best. It is a never ending attempt to be faithful. Yet, it could also be seen as an effort doomed to fail and perceived as rejoicing only at our own suffering. It might appear that frustration, failure, and disappointment are the lot of a Catholic.
- Fr. Joey Miras, SVD (Toronto, Canada)
