No cosmetic attempt but a thorough prophetic intervention
is the need of the hour…
Jesus is the son of God, the Christ for the Christians. It
was ‘…in Antioch the disciples were for the first time called Christians.’ (Acts
11:26) Before that they were said to be ‘belonging to the Way’ (9:2). Paradoxically
there are no ‘Christians’ as such today but only Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants
and so on. Schism was always there, from the very beginning itself! Though
dogma was projected as a ground, it was in fact for power and possessions. In
the process Jesus was drowned in dogma which petrified into rituals.
In the same length Jesus identified himself with the
Father (Jn 14:9), he did identify himself with the ‘least of these my brethren’
(Mt 25:40). He was very categorical of his mission, ‘the son of man also came
not to be served but to serve…’ (Mk 10:45) He was conveniently made priest,
king and what not to justify the greed for power and possession in the church… He
who thundered, ‘… you shall not make my Father’s house a house of trade’ (Jn
2:16) is made everything else other than a prophet!
However, the real Jesus could be traced back from the
gospel accounts which themselves are the product of the churches though. Being a
prophet in the tradition of John the Baptist and other prophets of old he was
very much perturbed/ troubled seeing the misery of ‘the poor’, a term to
include ‘all the oppressed, all those who are dependent upon the mercy of
others.’ (Jesus before Christianity p. 45)
The signs of our times demand prophetic intervention as
in the time of Jesus… ‘Scandals have rocked the Churches and undermined their
authority. For many people today, all religious authorities seem to be
exclusive, divisive, and oppressive…’ (‘Jesus Today’ p.27). As projected by the
vested interest people, common good is not against the interest of the
individual, but is ‘always in the best interest of the individual too... Such of them make it illegal for a poor
person to ‘steal’ a loaf of bread but perfectly legal for a rich man to hoard
more food and other resources than he or she can ever make use of…’ (p.42).
The ego (the
self-centered self, the ‘I’) imagines itself to be the centre of the world,
judging everything in terms of how it affects ‘me’ and only ‘me.’ It is
possessive and often manifests itself as an insatiable desire for money and
possessions… The unbridled ego wants to control its world: people, events, and
nature. Hence, the obsession with power and authority. It compares itself with
others and competes for praise and privilege, for love, for power and money.
This is what makes us envious, jealous and resentful of others. It is what
makes us hypocrites, two-faced, and dishonest.’ (p.47)
The church can’t be the mystical body of Christ, as is
claimed. ‘…though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a
thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being
born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself
and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.’ (Phil 2:6-8). Like the
grain of wheat he died and bore much fruit by way of resurrection. (Jn 12:24) The
persecuted church, the poor church was in fact fruitful whereas the patronized and
powerful church was shrinking gradually though quantitatively there seemingly was
growth due to expansionism carried out through scandalous and murderous crusades.
Jesus’ exhortation to rely upon the loving providence was
conveniently ignored amassing enormous and excessive wealth while millions were
starving and were exposed to the elements having no roof over their head.
Making his saying very true: ‘…where your treasure is, there will your hearts be
also’ (Mt 6:21) the church is basking itself in the warmth of its enormous
wealth. What is the justification of sky-scraping churches and cathedrals
besides palatial residences for priests and bishops when any number of people
has nowhere to lay their heads like the ‘son of man’? Is it not an affront to
Jesus who felt compassion for people who had nothing to eat… and may faint on
the way’ (Mt 15:32) to enjoy sumptuous meals when one out of every eight person
goes hungry?
When the church accepts the sweat money of the so called ‘labour
suppliers’ without any scruple for building churches is she not acting like the
scribes and Pharisees whom Jesus blamed in Mt 15: 4-6?
For many people today, all religious authorities seem to
be exclusive, divisive, and oppressive…’ (‘Jesus Today’ p.27).
Amidst the scandals that ‘have rocked the Churches and
undermined their authority’ comes a Pope giving some rays of hope with his unusual
simplicity and audacity to speak his mind so spontaneously. But for divine
intervention, will his papacy be able to cleanse the accumulated garbage ever
since the Constantine patronage in all possible areas of the church? The
institutional infrastructure with necessary theological base is not that easily
penetrable before a good willing pope. Will he have the spine to withstand it?
Can he really challenge the systems and inspire the personnel who man them?
Even the renewal introduced by the Vatican II could not
hold water for long! What a council could not accomplish, will a well meaning
pope do? The transition from prophetic discipleship, the way, to priestly and
kingly church is so rooted that it looks almost impossible for a reversal.
Attempting to correct the delinquencies retaining the flawed base would amount
to do the impossible. Whatever be the justifications, institutional church is
not at all compatible with the authentic teachings of Jesus. Only after
dismantling it could anything be done seriously and honestly. All else would only
be cosmetic.
There is no question of compromising and tolerating the
status quo even with the pretext of being realistic. That would amount to abandon
the prophetic spirit and surrender to the royal priestly traditions. Even those
congregations inspired by the very Francis have conveniently abandoned their
poverty and simplicity to the institutional buffer zones.
