The litmus test

A striking feature of modern political discourse – amplified by social media – is the lack of respect, civility and inclusion. The world is increasingly polarised into ‘them’ and ‘us’. ‘They’, who are different from ‘us’ whether by colour, creed, sexuality, political views or social class are deemed to be a threat.  ‘We’ are the victims while ‘they’ get preferential treatment in relation to goods, services and right of access. The ‘other’ is viewed as any or all of the following: suspicious, dangerous, lazy, violent, opportunistic, callous and deviant.

Christians are called to witness to the love of Christ, who offers salvation to all and excludes no person from the reach of his mercy.  We are called to view all of our neighbours as brothers and sisters of the human family.  It is appalling to witness cases such as that which was widely reported earlier this week when gangs of hooded, masked and uniformly dressed men shouted ‘Christ is King’ while they terrorised people who were trying to help other human beings. Resorting to violence and threats – online as well as offline – against the brave men and women who rescued human beings from the sea shows the depths to which hateful ideologies have entered our societies more and more. Not only that, but many of these ideologies have sought to hijack Christian religion for purposes completely inimical to the message of Jesus Christ.

In reparation for these outrages, Catholics need to double down.  The first step is to return to Christ in prayer, adoration, self-giving and outreach to all of our neighbours.  Again, the words of Pope Leo in Magnifica Humanitas (235) are timely:

The “Amen” that we say in the liturgy, the Body we eat and the Blood we drink shape our entire lives. The Eucharist “is an extremely personal encounter with the Lord and yet never simply an act of individual piety.”  In the Eucharist we find a visible manifestation of the reality that we “are the Church of Christ, his members, his body. We are brothers and sisters in him. And in Christ, though many and diverse, we are one: In Illo uno unum.” The Eucharist opens us to justice and sharing, with a preferential concern for those who are burdened by poverty or marginalization. And while new economic and technological networks can generate exclusion, isolation and dependencies, the Church — nourished by the Eucharist — is called to make visible a different paradigm, one that preserves human connections, gives a voice to the invisible and ensures that processes are aimed at respecting people’s dignity.

In the same encyclical, Pope Leo sums up well a Gospel-shaped approach to migration (#81):

A litmus test for social justice today is the treatment of migrants, refugees and those forced to move due to poverty, violence, climate change and environmental disasters. The way a society treats them reveals whether its sense of justice is driven by fear or by the spirit of fraternity. Pope Francis urged us to see migrants not simply as a problem to be managed, but as a living image of the People of God on the move.  They are people with dignity, resources and dreams, who have the right to be treated with respect and to ask to become active members of the societies that welcome them. Social justice in this area entails at least two complementary commitments. On the one hand, this means protecting the rightful hopes of those forced to leave by ensuring safe and legal routes, dignified conditions for receiving them, and genuine pathways to integration. On the other hand, it means promoting the right to remain in one’s homeland in peace and security by addressing the root causes that force people to migrate, including those linked to economic injustices and the climate crisis. When these rights are respected, migration can become an opportunity for encounter and mutual enrichment among peoples.

The litmus test for our eucharistic piety is our actions. Do we encounter Jesus in those on the margins fuelled by Word and Sacrament? If not, our participation in worship bears little fruit in our lives.