Over the last few days, I have read through Pope Francis' new encyclical, Fratelli Tutti.
It reminded me a bit of the spirituality of Star Wars. The spirituality of the force, a power bringing together the various races and nations and uniting them around a set of humanitarian principles that are universally recognized as promoting human dignity and the common good. The gravest threats to this unity and peace are those who harm others – who do not stop to assist the person in need, who are not the Good Samaritan. The essence of star wars fraternity is a culture of mutual understanding and charity: where everyone respects each other and shares equal responsibility for treating others with dignity, and where any individual, institution, or state that would injure or hurt another person is resisted by all.
I do not criticize the Pope for advocating such a wonderful vision. I love the rebel alliance. I love Yoda. Just like Yoda, the Pope speaks as unifier working to bring us all together, encouraging us to rise to our highest aspirations.
But there is a whole further dimension of the Gospel of Christ that could be brought to bear on this discussion of the problems in our modern world, a dimension that I think enriches what the Pope had to say. And this dimension is the transcendent.
Speaking about fraternity, Our Lord said that “Whatever you do to the least of my brothers and sisters, you do unto me.” St. Francis kissed the leper he met along the road not because he recognized in him the face of the poor and marginalized, but because he recognized the face of Christ in him. The reason that we Christians love our neighbors is precisely because there can be no distinction between love of God and love of neighbor. This is because Jesus came into the world and took his place among us – revealing to us his divine life alive in us who are made in his image and likeness.
That is why our sins against one another have eternal consequences, and not merely earthly ones. It is not simply that when we treat each other poorly we do harm to society and undermine solidarity and unity here on earth – it is that in treating one another poorly we reject the grace of God and his life that is living and at work among us. This is why we go to confession when we sin against one another – because it is no private matter that I have hurt another person. I have hurt a temple of the Holy Spirit and a child of God, and I need to ask the God for forgiveness.
This brings me to another foundational insight of our faith: that we cannot hope to live in mutual harmony and fraternity without the grace of Christ at work in us. All of the dysfunction that the Pope spoke of throughout the encyclical – it is not as if there are specific people who we can find and blame or reform so that this can all be fixed. It is not as if there are social structures or policies or government programs that can solve our problems. This is a fallen world. We are all complicit in the sin and division that reigns here because it lives in our hearts as much as it does in the world around us. No matter the resolutions or dialogue or efforts that might be made on a social or political level, we will never be able to save ourselves from the effects of original sin. Were that the case, there would have been no need for a savior. But we have tried for thousands of years and failed - and usually the harder that we try to save ourselves, the more dangerous we become.
This is why it is so important for Christians, when speaking about the effort to live in fraternity with others, to point to the grace of God that is given to us in Christ. He is the vine, we are the branches. As St. Paul preached: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” The daily work of the Christian is to die to ourselves and to live in him. Insofar as we remain in our own will and try to save ourselves or the people around us, we will be doomed. It is only by turning to Christ and seeking to conform our wills to his will that we can find salvation and peace for ourselves and our world.
Holy Communion is therefore the primary sustenance in living a life of Charity, as it refreshes in our souls the grace of Baptism, the life of Christ dwelling within us. As St. Augustine said, in receiving the Eucharist we receive who we are so that we can become who we receive. We receive Christ so that we can be Christ in the world. A soul at peace, a soul refreshed and strong is a soul that can bring peace and refreshment to the world. Without this spiritual food, we cannot hope to live in harmony with others. “If the Lord does not build the house, in vain do its builders labor. If the Lord does not guard the city, in vain do the watchmen keep vigil. In vain is your earlier rising, your going later to rest.”
We are not mere animals who are working to build a peaceful paddock to live in before the slaughter. We are women and men who have eternal souls that are meant to rest in God and to be filled with his life and love. Our efforts to improve this world and to care for one another are but mere transitory and preparatory exercises on the way to a life that far surpasses anything that mere earthly existence can offer.
Stepping back for a moment in the evening and looking at the stars should cause us to reflect on the smallness of this earthly life, and of our existence upon it. We are part of something so much greater, of a life that is so much greater than ourselves. That life, the life of God, is not a distant life – but a divine life that has made his home among us in the person of Jesus Christ. What makes fraternity beautiful in this world is that in sharing our lives with each other we share the very life of God. In loving one another, we love him.
It is because we are not made for this world that we can sacrifice the things of this world for love of one another. It is because we have one Heavenly Father that we are truly brothers and sisters. It is because we have been forgiven by him for our transgressions that in our gratitude and peacefulness we find the strength to forgive one another. It is because he has filled our hearts with his love that we have no need of material goods or worldly honors. It is because Christ gave his life for me and continues to give his life to me each day that I am urged on to give my life for others.
Fratelli Tutti shows us the difficulties of our time and gives us many ideas about how to solve them. Thankfully, we do not need to try to do that on our own. We have an all-powerful Savior who is our brother and who has conquered sin and death. In the end, there is only one thing that is needed from us. To seek first the kingdom of God – to seek to be close to Jesus Christ. Under the shadow of his wings, we will find refuge and strength. Walking with him, we will be brothers and sisters because he is brother to all and he alone can lead us to his green pastures of eternal joy and peace.
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