Published in the bulletin of Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Knoxville, TN, on the 2nd Sunday of Lent.
My dear Parishioners,
Peace! There are nine (9) “In Brief” articles in the Catechism of the Catholic Church addressing the First Commandment of the Decalogue, ‘You shall not have other gods.’ The following is a reflection on CCC 2137.
Some people, when considering the teachings of the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) wrongly interpret both its letter and spirit, as if “religious indifferentism” was now a dogma of faith. When, in the Declaration on Religious Liberty, Dignitatis Humanae, 15, we read that “man must be free to profess religion in private and in public” this is not just about the “freedom of religion” of which citizens of the United State of America are very familiar with (recall the Bill of Rights, First Amendment), but also about the freedom of the Church to live and proclaim her faith. No one forced God to create us or to redeem us or to reveal Himself to us. The One Only God has done all of this on His own initiative. We who have been made in His image and remade by grace and faith and Baptism likewise are not to coerce anyone into the Church.
The teaching of the Council also reflects the First Commandment and the liberty of the Church and individual believers to believe and to profess the faith in the One Only God. It is important to remember that when the Council Fathers were meeting the “Iron Curtain” was still intact and the reign of terror and oppression that was atheistic Communism was still widespread. Cries of the people of Poland during Blessed John Paul II’s pastoral visit “We Want God” we the beginning of the end of Communism there and throughout Europe. The Holy Father reminded his countrymen (and us) that they (and we) belong to the One Only God and that society and the state are secondary.
Our lives of faith in the One Only God which we profess in the Creed is not just an individual relationship, the Lord and myself, you and the Lord. It is that but it is also the Lord and His people. Of old God chose Abraham, Moses and Israel to be His people. Mother Church is the new and definitive Israel, people of God. In the depths of our hearts we safeguard and treasure our faith in God and all that He has revealed. We are, according to the First Commandment, to also share this same faith with any and with all. We are not to coerce or force anyone to believe. Likewise, no one is allowed to hinder our sharing the faith. Certain totalitarian regimes have throughout history sought to impede the freedom of Mother Church and individual believers through restrictive measures interfering with manifestations of religion in public. These sorts of practices go against not only human dignity but also against the Author of human dignity, namely God Himself. May we be steadfast and zealous in our faith in the One Only God.
God bless you!
Father John Arthur Orr