One of the most profound pieces of scripture that I know is the proclamation that Jesus is the foundational stone that was rejected by the builders, and will cause many to stumble, but is also the stone supporting all of the living stones that comprise His church. If we believe in Him, this cornerstone is our surest support. If not, we are doomed to continually bash ourselves against it and eventually shatter. This also calls to mind for me a conversation that Jesus had with a young Pharisee who was trying to justify himself in the Lord’s sight and the sight of others and asked Jesus about the greatest of commandments. Our Lord answered that to love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength, and to love one another, were the foundational commandments that all the rest fell within. It is ironic that this conversation happened with a Pharisee because there were so many of them that were completely obsessed with the precepts of the laws they developed, so much so as to forget God’s true message and commandments. Yet this fellow understood and agreed with our Lord’s response. You see, for him, Jesus was a foundational stone that he could build his faith and understanding upon if he persisted. Yet for so many others, Jesus’s words could not be accepted and caused them to stumble, because they couldn’t get past their own agendas and priorities.
Our Lord made it very clear that the love of our Father and creator and of His creations were the foundational priority, and that all else was predicated upon this. Yet we still find ourselves stumbling sometimes as we get caught up in what we think are important issues that must be addressed. One of the latest of these is the debate that I see happening over the issue of religious gatherings in our churches being infringed upon by the government during this pandemic, and also the criticism of our bishops and priests who are not holding Mass in the churches as part of their adherence to the government’s directives. We are allowing ourselves to be swallowed up in the debate over religious freedom and concerned with whether our pastors are making the right call by not having Mass, and our not being able to receive the Sacraments the way we are used to. To be sure, the reception of the Sacraments is hugely important to each of us, and we all long for the time when we will be able to partake of them directly again. However, we need to be very careful of the ideas that we are lending our voices to during this time, as they are definitely heard by those who shape policies and feel the pressure of public opinion. This is particularly true of the input we provide in our correspondence, and in social media. We need to carefully consider what we are really working toward – is it truly in the interest of all of God’s children?
The intention of wanting to return to Mass and receive the Sacraments is not at issue here; we ALL want to be able to do this. We all long for the gathering for Mass, and to celebrate it communally, and to receive our Lord’s body and blood to strengthen us and draw us into that closer unity that only the Eucharist can provide. What we need to consider, however, is the impact this could have on those who are most vulnerable to this pandemic and who are being placed in harm’s way during our gathering together, and the potential for the continued proliferation of this virus that will impact humanity in general. We are called to love one another, as God’s Spirit resides within each of us, and part of that love is looking out for one another and putting our desires second to our love for others. This is the way of ‘agape’ love, selfless love, the love that Jesus demonstrated for each of us upon the cross. We must place the well-being of others ahead of our own desires, even for something as right as gathering together for Mass physically, if it will negatively affect others’ health. God gave us an intellect to allow us to make decisions based on our circumstances; it is not a betrayal of our faith or principles to adapt and deal prudently with a challenging situation and try to preserve the health and safety of those who may be at greater risk of sickness. Our Lord can, and will, still continue to work within us with the remote celebrations that are taking place. He is not limited by these at all, and neither as His children are we in our capacity to express our love for Him and others. Our God is greater than these physical limitations we struggle with and has given us a capacity to love that transcends form and location, but it cannot transcend our intent; we must be true to that and desire above all to express that selfless love. He still calls us to the same mindset that He placed before that young Pharisee, to focus on loving God, and to love one another above all other commitments – these are our foundations now, just as they were then. All the other well-intentioned ideas and debate must come second to our observance of this most important of God’s commandments. Let us never lose sight of that and cause ourselves to stumble.
The Deacons Bench 