The 'both/and' factor holds more truth

September 24, 2006 -- 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

By Bishop Robert Morneau

	Bishop Robert Morneau
	Questions for reflection: 1. Do you lean more toward the dark or bright side of the Gospel message? 2. Why is discouragement worthy of being named the eighth capital sin? 3. How do you balance your seeing of both the good and evil in the world?

Card. John Henry Newman (1801-1890) was a convert to Catholicism from the Anglican tradition. His writings have had a major impact on Catholic thought, more specifically, on the documents of Vatican Council II. Pope Paul VI even commented that Vatican II was "Newman's Council."

In one of Newman's homilies, he makes the distinction between the darker side of the Gospel and the brighter side. For Newman, the darker side is the Gospel's "awful mysteriousness, its fearful glory, and its sovereign inflexible justice." By contrast, the brighter side of the good news is "its tidings of comfort and its precepts of love." Newman was worried that we tend to embrace one or the other side, failing to appreciate and appropriate the full Gospel message.

The scriptures for this Sunday contain a considerable amount of darkness: the disciples arguing about who is the greatest just after Jesus tells of his approaching death; St. James comments on all those things that weaken and destroy the peace of God's Kingdom - jealousy, selfish ambition, war, conflict, passions, and envy; and, from the book of Wisdom, we witness revilement and torture. Not a pretty picture! But then God's word is always realistic, giving us a full picture of the human condition.

So, where is the bright side of revelation? Is this negative portrait all there is? Where can one find hope in all this ugliness? Where can we find hope in a world of gang warfares, the spread of AIDS, a run-away consumerism, growing violence and terrorism, the in-fighting among religions? Our Christian hope is rooted in the person of Jesus and the story of His life, death, and resurrection. We believe that by participating in His life, we will one day share in the eternal life that is our destiny.

The bright side of the Gospel is seen when a Mother Teresa reaches out to the poorest of the poor and offers them gracious hospitality. The bright side of the Gospel is made manifest when members of Catholic Relief Services (CRS) are sent into disaster areas to provide assistance. The bright side of the Gospel shines forth when individuals and communities do small, random acts of kindness, help to formulate just policies for immigrants, and visit those in prison and on death row.

Card. Newman's concern is a valid one. We all have a tendency to embrace the either/or option: either the world is good or bad; people are either saints or sinners; nations are either just or unjust. It's not that simple. The both/and factor is true both of the Gospel and history. The world is both good and bad; people are both saints and sinners; nations are both just and unjust. Unconformable and as messy as that is, such is life.

Simone Weil, the brilliant French writer, confirms Newman's insight regarding the danger of fragmented thinking: "It is true that men are capable of dividing their minds into compartments, in each of which an idea lives a sort of life of its own, undisturbed by other ideas. They don't care for either critical or synthetic effort, and won't submit to making either unless obliged."

(Bp. Morneau is the auxiliary bishop of the Green Bay Diocese and pastor of Resurrection Parish in Allouez.)