To His apostles or maybe to Himself, Jesus once rhetorically posed a question, “When the Son of man comes will he find faith on earth?” (Luke 18-8). It is interesting to observe that upon his return on the last day the Lord expects to look for faith above everything else, especially among His followers. In our times this may sound a bit incongruous. Social justice, peace, lack of poverty, full churches or compassion would almost certainly rank higher in the perception of what should be most important in our societies.
Yet Christ held faith to be the foundation upon which all other virtues are built and this with good reason. When this virtue is missing we end up magnifying the faults of others while nullifying our own. Ours are times with so much rhetoric giving advice to the Church on how she should set about reforming herself, while at the same time forgetting that the most important reform to be first undertaken is that of oneself. The parable of the Pharisee and the publican springs to mind where the former, full of his own self-worth, reminds God of his perceived virtues, while at the same time berating the publican for his sins. Those who take the moral high ground, continually attack the Church should remember the Pharisee of the parable who never dreamt that he needed to convert and thus remained in a sinful state. The publican on the other hand, Jesus tells us, after admitting his sins returned home “justified”.
Catholics will be celebrating the Year of Faith next year and with good reason too. It is this crisis of faith that is leading to the many woes that beset our society and even the Church herself. Once faith in God wanes, then our inner life starts to collapse. Once we believe that life on earth is all that matters, that we are here forever or almost, and no thought ever given that one day we have to appear before the tribunal of God to whom Jesus says in Mathew 12.36-37, “We have to give account of every careless word we say,” when our passions and instincts are unleashed, eventually leading to much unhappiness. Envy, pride, anger, hatred, lust, unbridled ambition – the fruits of original sin − all come rushing in while grace is booted out.
Christian love, naturally, is the prime casualty of this loss of faith, such as the case when words are uttered that cause immense harm to the “little ones”, that is, to those whose faith is fragile or even infantile and who thus remain confused and bewildered, especially if these words are uttered within the Church herself. Once faith declines then so does prudence and love towards the spiritual well being of others.
Christ once burst into praise, thanking His father that heavenly matters are revealed to the “little ones” and hidden from the “wise and clever” (Matthew 11-25). Indeed, the learned classes in Jesus’ time, both Pharisees and Sadducees, rejected Jesus’ teaching because, among other things, their intellectual prowess and pride prevented them from accepting the teachings of the unlearned carpenter’s son from Nazareth. The crowds that followed the Lord, on the other hand, were in their majority, humble people to whom Jesus could speak of crops, of fish and nets, of figs and vines and be perfectly understood.
Christ has taught us that learning and scholarship without faith mean nothing. During the 2000 years of her existence the Catholic Church has harboured within her ranks many holy and humble learned men and women but also a number of people who, not having nurtured their faith enough, thought that their scholarship gave them leave to utter words that ended up harming not only their own souls but also those of others.
However, faithful followers of the Lord, the ‘little flock’ that He so lovingly spoke about, are not disheartened by this because they are comforted by His words when He said, “Unless you become like little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18-13).
Jacqueline Calleja
BALZAN