Catholicism encourages us to respect what is mysterious. We speak of the mystery the Trinity, the mystery of the cross, the mystery of the liturgy and sacraments, the mystery of the Eucharist, the mystery of Mary as Mother of God, the mystery of the Incarnation, the mystery of the Mystical Body of Christ, the mystery of salvation, the mystery of damnation, the mystery of God's Providence, the mystery of free will, the mystery of election, etc.
These mysteries are indeed hard to think about, and in certain cases require a trust in God that feels radical and even uncomfortable. For that reason, various heresies over the years have emerged to quash these mysteries and propose concrete, digestible "answers." At first, these "answers" seem to "solve" the problem; yet, with time, heresy always creates new problems and suffering.
The answer instead is to accept the boundaries the Church has placed around each mystery, and then reason and imagine within them. In doing so, the Church's understanding of various mysteries has progressed and deepened. At the same time, such a process protects what is sacred, transcendent, and ineffable to the human mind. In our humility, we must accept that there are some things we can never fully comprehend this side of heaven.
An example is to respect that the Church teaches both that God is all powerful, and that man has free will. Any idea of God's Providence that denies one or the other goes too far.
Apart from protecting what is sacred, this approach also teaches us an important lesson: we don't have to "know" everything to become saints. It's okay to say "that's above me." Total knowledge is not required for sainthood. We learn to trust God with the graces and understanding we do have. We give up the impossible and exhausting quest of trying to "know" everything. This frees us up so that we can start living and doing.
No comments:
Post a Comment