In communion with the world

Oct 30, 2015

By Mike Nelson
A fellow -- a seemingly good and decent person, by what the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke tell us -- went to Jesus, asking what he needed to do to inherit eternal life. When Jesus asked him if he'd kept the commandments, the young man said he had and waited for Jesus' next piece of advice. But Jesus threw him, as we used to say in baseball, "the old high hard one." Sell all you have, give the proceeds to the poor, "then come, follow me." But the rich young man couldn't do it. As Jesus suggests in this story, keeping the commandments -- following the rules -- is a good start.

But, as Jesus also suggests, eternal life in God's kingdom is about communion with others. How often did Jesus himself come under fire from the high priests and other "experts" in his day for breaking "the rules," such as when dined with and forgave sinners? Or not washing his hands in the prescribed manner before eating? Or speaking with foreigners, including foreign women? Or performing miracles on the Sabbath?

Much in our lives today is wrapped up in following rules -- rules of faith, rules of society, rules of law, rules of good behavior. And that's not a bad thing because rules give us focus in life and help us maintain some order in society. But let's be honest: You can pass a driving test by indicating you know how to "follow the rules," regardless of whether you believe in those rules or intend to follow them. You can pass a final exam in an advanced collegiate religious studies course because you've learned the material, regardless of what religious faith you believe in or even if you don't believe at all. When I was becoming Catholic in a pre-RCIA parish, I was given what our leader called, with a smile, a "midterm," which was just what it sounds like: a bunch of questions designed to gauge our knowledge of the faith and, presumably, determine if I was on the right track toward communion with others of the faith or, as I called it, "full Catholicism."I dutifully answered the questions and got a high score, which I figured was better than a low score. But it has occurred to me many times since then that this test in no way measured what was in my heart or in the heart of anyone else who took the test.

Because being in full communion with our faith -- what some call being in right relationship -- is much more than knowing the right answers. It's even more than having received the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist, although these steps, signs of having achieved certain levels of maturity and knowledge, can help guide us in a right and moral path toward Jesus. Pope Francis offers us another interpretation of "full communion."In his Sept. 6 Sunday Angelus address in St. Peter's Square, the pope reflected on that day's Gospel, in which Jesus healed a man who was deaf and unable to speak -- "an incredible event," the Pope said, "that shows how Jesus re-establishes the full communication of man with God and with other people."

"Jesus," Pope Francis added, "is the great bridge builder who builds in himself the great bridge of full communion with the Father."Full communication, then, can also mean full communion. Yes, rules matter. But the person and the example of Jesus tell us that entering the kingdom of God also requires open minds, open eyes, open ears and, most of all, an open heart. And yes, we should expect a few "high hard ones" along the way.