In today’s Gospel the apostles discover that a stranger “not of their company” is performing miracles in the name of Jesus. The apostles are confused, wondering if they should do something to stop him.
But even though this stranger lacks the fullness of the truth that would come with being in the intimate company of Christ, Jesus tells the apostles: “Do not prevent him … For whoever is not against us is for us.”
This need to recognize Christian works in those who are not fully in our company leads us to understand the great importance that the Catholic Church places on ecumenism. We're called to look for the things we have in common with the various non-Catholic denominations, and to use those as a starting point for both mutual cooperation in spreading the Gospel and striving for Christian unity. Moreover, we’re also called to recognize the goodness of Christ's truth when it's possessed by non-Christians — even atheists. This is because non-Christian also recognize some of the truth of Christ — even if they don't recognize it as Christ's.
And yet, as our ecumenism and religious tolerance increases, we find ourselves in a dilemma: sometimes in our rush to see the good in others, we confuse cooperation with indifferentism, truth with ignorance and even sometimes good with evil. But it’s important to remember that just as Jesus insists that we must respect the truth that others possess, he's even more adamant that we can never compromise on the fullness of the truth. He tells his apostles: “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.” And by “little ones” Jesus means all of God’s children.
Needless to say, this does not mean that non-Catholics should have a millstone tied around their neck. The point is the intensity with which Jesus insists that no one should lead anyone astray from him in any way.
Leading people — even ourselves — astray is easy nowadays because there's such a tendency to see the good in others and then immediately accept everything about the person as good. Sometimes this happens in drastic ways, as when someone overtly rejects Christ and his teachings. For example, consider young couples living together before marriage. Many people see the good of their love for each other and then accept as good everything they claim to do as an expression of that love — even as they ignore the many times that Jesus himself completely rejected this false notion of love.
Sometimes we lead ourselves or others astray in less dramatic ways, such as when we accept anything less than the fullness of the faith, either through ignorance, which is not knowing the fullness of the faith, or through indifference, which is disregarding the fact that this ignorance is a problem. It would be wrong to mislead others by allowing them to remain away from the company of the Church without making any effort to share the fullness of the faith with them. And it would be wrong to mislead ourselves or others to think that the fullness of the faith and the company of the Church were unimportant.
As we meditate on today’s Gospel, let us pray for the gift to see Christ's truth and his goodness in all those around us. But let us also pray that we may always discern clearly what is for Christ and what is against Him.
Fr. De Celles is Parochial Vicar of St. Michael Parish in Annandale.
(This article courtesy of the Arlington Catholic Herald.)
