I am late writing this weekend. My husband and I were invited to meet up with friends for lunch and then our daughter invited us to take a last of the season, evening boat ride on the river. We couldn’t say no to either opportunity. The last year and a half have been long and hard, and we really needed those connections.
When we visited at lunch, we talked non-stop, or so it seemed, eager to catch up with these friends whose politics are different than our own. Given the polarization of our world we had some trepidation as we made plans to meet, and yet it was really a positive encounter. We remembered how many things we have in common and discovered a number of new connections as well. We look forward to meeting up with them again.
When we were out on the boat, I was reminded how different the city looks from the river. The Portland cityscape is really very beautiful. We watched as the light faded and the bridge lights came on. On the river, the bridges seem more closely related, part of one larger system, linking the city from east to west. Busy with assorted traffic, cars, bicycles, and pedestrians, they keep the city connected.
This past month Pope Francis began traveling again after recovering from his surgery in July. Connecting with people around the world is important to him, he has a message of inclusion and accepting love that he wants to share. It makes me feel sad that he is constantly criticized by a small but fierce group of Catholics who are loyal to previous Popes. Francis acknowledged, with some humor, in his remarks to Jesuits in Slovakia that he was, "Still alive, even though some people wanted me to die. I know there were even meetings between prelates who thought the pope’s condition was more serious than the official version.” (https://www.ncronline.org/news/vatican/pope-francis-issues-thinly-veiled-criticism-ewtn-comments-gender-ideology)
The people, priests, cardinals, and lay people who object to Francis seem to be entrenched in an old way of thinking, one that advocates exclusion of those who do not agree with them and the exceptionalism, or moral superiority of those who do. What Francis is about, it seems to me, is building bridges to connect people across borders and boundaries of all kinds. He sees God and holiness everywhere, both inside and outside of the church. This shift is very difficult for those who have the need to be in control, who want to know they are right and want the ability to include or exclude according to their human made laws.
This weekend our readings speak to the fear that people have when confronted with authority outside their control. In the reading from Numbers 11:25-29, two people are given a share of the spirit even though they were not at the gathering with Moses and the seventy elders. Seeing that these two people were prophesying, a young man went to Moses to report on them, expecting that Moses would stop them. Moses however responded that there was no need to be jealous for his sake. Moses wished that all of the people could be prophets. In the Gospel from Mark 9:38-48, the disciples become upset and complain to Jesus because there was someone outside their group who was driving out demons in the name of Christ. Jesus chastises them saying, “Whoever is not against us is for us.”
Fr. Jose Pagola, in his commentary on this week’s Gospel says: “Jesus rejects the sectarian and exclusive policy of his disciples, who think only of their own growth and prestige, and adopts an open and inclusive attitude in which the important thing is to free people from what dehumanizes them and makes them unhappy. This is the spirit that must always animate his true disciples.” (Following in the Footsteps of Jesus: Meditations on the Gospels for Year B. Convivium Press, 2011.Pg. 126)
In our own day, those who are angry with Pope Francis, are angry because he is not going about the work of being Pope in the way with which they are familiar. He is not affirming the exclusive authority of clerics and the church as a whole. He is opening his arms to lay people, to people whose decisions differ from traditional church teachings, and he is listening to people from all walks of life.
On the 9th of October Pope Francis will officially begin worldwide preparation for a Synod to be held in 2023. The topic: decentralizing the way that decisions are made in the church. He wants to begin with the local church - the diocese and parishes. He wants to take what is learned there to bishops' conferences around the world. And he wants to bring bishops and lay people together in Rome to discuss the findings and topics developed through the full process. All of this comes about because Pope Francis is dissatisfied with a hierarchical structure that expects all decisions to be formed in Rome prior to consultation with the worldwide church, which includes lay people.
Already those who are afraid that the spirit of God is working outside their comfortable structure are raising battle flags. It is the same fear that Moses and Jesus were forced to address. The spirit of God can go wherever God wants, rest on whoever is open, and is never boxed in by human desires to maintain power and control over others.
There are many needs in our world and the church needs to work with others in order to address them. A first step is to shed the pretense of Rome being in control of everything (or anything) and open our hearts and minds to working together in new ways. In is time to forge new connections, ones that cross the old boundaries of lay and cleric so that we can hear the Spirit speaking through a variety of voices from a variety of different experiences.
Only God can control the Spirit.
Who is in Charge?
Did Father Dave read this before his homily?