The past two weeks have been a rollercoaster ride, to say the least, at the Vatican, from the midpoint Relatio of the Synod, where media outfits (and dare we say it, even people in Rome) were questioning what exactly the report was saying (and implying) about some of the controversial issues addressed by the Synod, to interviews (officially made or not) from Cardinal Burke on one side and Cardinal Kasper on the other. Cooler, perhaps more reflective, heads prevailed, and an important lesson was relearned as the synod issued a beautiful final summary of its activities assuring that natural law and dogma do not and cannot ever change but that doctrine and pastoral practice can develop.
Too much time was spent in the small group discussions on everything but what they were intended to do – discuss the family and how to strengthen the traditional Catholic Christian family. It became all too often right versus left, traditional versus progressive, and that not only was a distraction, but it also bordered at times on scandalous for the faithful people of God.
Why do you think Pope Francis received a five-minute standing ovation after his final address of the synod? Because he reminded the synod (and all of us) what it was really all about: “And since it is a journey of human beings, with the consolations there were also moments of desolation, of tensions and temptations…”
The Holy Father pointed out that there is a temptation to hostile inflexibility – that is, wanting to close oneself within the letter of the law. Instead, he asked that we open ourselves to be surprised by the God of surprises.
He also warned about deceptive mercy that would bind the wounds without first curing them and treating them.
Then there is the temptation to come down off the Cross, to please the people and not stay there, in order to fulfill the will of the Father, to bow down to a worldly spirit instead of purifying it and bending it to the Spirit of God.
Church commentator John Allen describes the attitude that Cardinal Timothy Dolan exhibits as “affirmative orthodoxy.” What does that mean? Well, simply put, it means being faithful to the teachings of the Church but presenting them in a positive way.
Cardinal Dolan, in an interview this past week, stated: “The Church is constantly saying, ‘Yes, Yes, Yes,’ to everything that is liberating, true, genuine, in the human condition. So we are saying, ‘Yes to eternal love,’ ‘Yes to new life,’ we’re saying, ‘Yes to the sexual expression of love between a man and woman in life-long, faithful, life-giving marriage.’ We are saying, ‘Yes to the very poetry that the relationship of a man and woman in the sacrament of marriage that actually reflects the love that God has for us.’ We’re saying, ‘Yes to the idea that a family is the closest we come in this life to the blessed Trinity.’
“We only say ‘No’ to something that might negate that. And a ‘No, to a No, is a Yes.’ So, I guess if you ask me what is my greatest pastoral challenge, I guess it would be as how to recapture the extraordinarily affirming, healing, compassionate invitation and nature of the Church’s teaching.”
The Church is a yes, always a yes, to everyone and everything that is good and holy and pure (and to that which is striving to be good, holy and pure).
The idea of this synod was journeying, meeting people where they are and bringing them to where they should be. Let’s remember this lesson as we go forth on our Christian journey. The discussion will continue at next year’s World Meeting of Families and also at another synod next year in Rome.
May affirmative orthodoxy always prevail.