Seeing the Faith as a deep friendship with God

We have become all too used to controversy in the Church. Whether it is reactions to the mishandling of clerical sexual abuse or disputes over whether or not divorced and remarried Catholics should receive Holy Communion, division sometimes seems everywhere. While it is important to stand up for what is true and beautiful, it is equally important to realise that a spirit of division is not of God.

Too often divisions deepen in the Church because we can tend to project our human weaknesses on to the Church and see our Faith as an ideological battle with the world rather than a way of life.

If we are not attracting people towards the Church, towards Christ, it is because our witness is inadequate. True, scandal and secularism have prevented many people from seeing the beauty of the Faith, but we have also sometimes fallen into the trap of presenting the Faith as a coherent set of rules or guiding principles rather than as a way of life that is friendship with God.

Gift

Benedict XVI will be remembered as one of the great Popes of the modern era. His theological depth and profound teaching remains a tremendous gift to the global Church. His writing will be read long after he has passed from this life and will form the basis for doctorates in theology for decades to come. In Joseph Ratzinger, the Church has one of the foremost public intellectuals in contemporary Europe.

For all of his learning, Benedict XVI was first and foremost a priest who wanted to guide people towards God. He often spoke of the Faith as friendship with God.

Shortly after his election in 2005, he pondered on why people are resistant to take the leap of faith. “Are we not perhaps all afraid in some way? If we let Christ enter fully into our lives, if we open ourselves totally to him, are we not afraid that he might take something away from us? Are we not perhaps afraid to give up something significant, something unique, something that makes life so beautiful? Do we not then risk ending up diminished and deprived of our freedom?” he asked.

The Pope went on to answer his own question: “No! If we let Christ into our lives, we lose nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing of what makes life free, beautiful and great.

“No! Only in this friendship are the doors of life opened wide. Only in this friendship is the great potential of human existence truly revealed. Only in this friendship do we experience beauty and liberation. And so, today, with great strength and great conviction, on the basis of long personal experience of life, I say to you, dear young people: do not be afraid of Christ! He takes nothing away, and he gives you everything,” Benedict said with great passion.

It’s an attractive vision of the Faith and one that should be at the centre of our thought and evangelisation. Ultimately, the Church doesn’t exist to win battles or ideological wars; it exists to win hearts, minds and – ultimately – souls for Christ. Everything that takes our focus off this key mandate should be discarded. Pope Francis has warned that a self-referencing Church is pathetic. But, a Church that promotes the Faith as deepening a relationship with God will have something to offer a world that often doesn’t even know what is missing.