Memorial of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, Religious

Lectionary: 496

Beloved, you are faithful in all you do for the brothers and sisters, especially for strangers;

they have testified to your love before the Church. Please help them in a way worthy of God to continue their journey.

Pope Benedict XVI, when he was known as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger,in his book Principles of Catholic Theology, recalled an age before Luther, the Western Schism, and the Donatist heresy, before Christianity became the religion of Empire, when Christians trusted one another. It was theoretically possible that a Christian might be a scoundrel, and in fact there were plenty of them; but given the general skepticism about this new religion only the truly courageous would adopt and practice it.

That was changing at the time of Saint Augustine and his Donatist rivals. They insisted that a Christian who had denied the faith in the face of persecution; or, worse, betrayed a Christian priest or bishop to the authorities, could never be reconciled to the church. There was no forgiveness from God or others. The sacraments of a treasonous priest, they said, were not valid; those who attended his Mass were excommunicated. 

This Donatist heresy flourished in North Africa and other parts of the Church, and was vigorously opposed by the indomitable Saint Augustine. He proposed there might be a visible and an invisible church. While the visible church of saints and sinners maintained its rituals, customs and laws, the invisible church comprised the truly devout, the authentically "saved." 

Ratzinger explained that Augustine's notion was mostly theoretical. There was little discussion about who was saved or not, until the Western Schism (1378 to 1417 AD) profoundly disrupted our experience of faith. Three popes, many bishops and innumerable priests excommunicated and condemned one another. No one could be sure she was receiving the Real Presence of Jesus in the Sacrament, or that her baptism was authentic. The schism was politically resolved but the scandal was not. It led directly to the Reformation when millions of former Catholics decided the "Apostolic Succession" of the pope, bishops and priests really didn't matter. "God sees the heart!" they assure themselves to this day. The true Christian lives by faith and not by the external trappings of fidelity; he doesn't even need a church or community because he personally knows the Lord Jesus.

Writing his letter to a small group of Christians, encouraging them to welcome the "strangers" he was sending them, Saint John knew nothing of an external/internal schism. He had only to put his name to a letter of introduction and they would welcome his friends.

In many ways Catholics still retain that naive confidence in one another and their priests -- despite the deeply troubling scandal. People want to believe in their priests and bishops. We have been rocked time and again by one scandal after another and yet faith demands that we trust one another. No one can practice faith alone; nor can anyone be looking over her shoulder all the time, fearful of who or what might be coming out of the shadows.
While the bishops, working with specialists of many professions, ponder ways to avoid further crimes, the rest of us must come to terms with the reality of betrayal. It's going to happen because the practice of faith requires trust, openness and vulnerability before one another. It's not necessary; there's no law that says it must happen; but some people will take advantage of us. Nor will we accept the widespread belief that vulnerability "invites" victimization, and the blame should fall on the victim, not the criminal.

The Evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, Saint Paul and Our Lord Jesus Christ knew it from the outset, and warned us several times in the New Testament. There will never be an effective way to deal with Original Sin; neither with new laws, technological gimcrackery, or social customs. If anything those efforts will stifle opportunities of grace, as Ben Franklin observed:  

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." 

The earliest Christians called themselves "saints" and expected holiness of one another. We cannot surrender that quest.