The tide is turning

Today’s readings: Malachi 1, 14 – 2, 2.8-10; 1 Thess. 2, 7-9.13; Mat. 23, 1-12.

Nowadays we often find ourselves torn between our loyalty to what we believe and the institution to which we belong. Many succeed in coming to terms with both. But for others the dichotomy becomes increasingly scandalous and they end up leaving.

To our modern sensibility it sounds too naïve just to claim simplistically that the Church represents Christ in the world. There are aspects of the Church that we find increasingly difficult to digest. In today’s gospel, Matthew addresses a situation that was becoming ever more intolerable regarding authenticity, and is quite harsh when he says: “Do what they tell you but do not be guided by what they do”.

We find practically the same situation in the prophet Malachi, the last of the prophets, who was writing at a time when the need for true reform was being felt in God’s people.

Malachi was well aware of the socio-religious situation of his time. He challenges the mediocrity in which the people lived, particularly the shallowness of worship. His words sound terrible when he warns the priests and Levites, saying: “I will send the curse on you and curse your very blessing”.

It is very symptomatic that while the prophet highlights the shallowness of worship in his days, Jesus laments the lack of credibility of the functionaries of religion in the way they taught and sought to guide the people. Symptomatic because it is revealing of situations and issues we feel concerned about today.

At the origins of Christianity, believers were persecuted precisely for being Christian and for stand-ing up for what they believed. But there were times when they were persecuted for lack of coherence. Malachi writes: “I have made you contemptible and vile in the eyes of the whole people in repayment for the way you have not kept to my paths”.

So before we accuse the world of straying away and of treating religion with ridicule, we do well to follow on the footsteps of the prophet to examine to what extent and in what ways we ourselves have strayed from the truth of Jesus Christ.

At the time Matthew was writing his gospel, hostility towards the religious leaders of Judaism was increasing. The religious leadership of Jesus, and after him, of the Apostles, and the leadership of the scribes and Pharisees was in stark contrast.

This seems to be exactly what we are going through today. In today’s society and culture the Church has lost its position of power. But people who still look up to it for moral leadership, which in its turn demands credibility, coherence, authenticity and transparent governance.

It may suit us to explain why people leave the Church by pointing fingers to the secularist mentality and to other excuses we may find. But the warning of the prophet Malachi to the priests and leaders, as well as the harsh words of Jesus to the leaders of his time make us look inward and search for deeper explanations.

The Church in the West has be­come more vulnerable and dysfunctional. This dysfunction ranges from issues of governance to deeper issues of essence where proclamation and worship are concerned.

Market research might help us to find out what will make the Church more appealing to people. But there is the danger of ending up with a consumer-driven Church. New evangelisation calls for a Church that in the first place is itself evangelised. St Paul’s words to the Thessalonians are significant when he writes: You accepted God’s message for what it really is, God’s message and not some human thinking.

It is crucial for our communities today to embark on a recovery programme to restore the right priorities. What Jesus is practically saying in today’s gospel is that no matter from where or by whom the Word is proclaimed, what gives it authority and credibility is not the office.

The tide is turning, and we are desperate to be relevant. But God is well able to revolutionise situations if we take Him seriously.