If I were to ask you what do you think is the most important word in Catholic theology, what would you say? You may answer, “God,” “Jesus,” “Salvation,” “Sacraments,” “Mass,” etc. All of those words have great meaning, but the most pivotal word, the most foundational word is “And.”
As Catholics we believe in Faith AND Works, we believe in Faith AND Reason, we believe in Scripture AND Tradition, we believe in Free Will AND Predestination, and so on.
Today’s 1st reading clearly examines this AND principle. Sirach tells us to choose between life AND death, Good AND evil. He instructs us to keep the commandments so that we can be saved.
Today we are in store for an apologetical lesson, this does not mean I am apologizing, rather it means I am defending or explaining why we believe what we believe.
There are Christians, usually of the fundamentalist type who shy away from this word AND, if not altogether get rid of it. Some Christians believe in the Bible ALONE, in Faith ALONE, in Predestination ALONE.
A little explaining here will be good. Some believe that every instruction we adhere to come from the bible only, hence all theological understanding, I repeat ALL, must come from the bible ALONE. When referring to Faith ALONE, Fundamentalists are claiming one is saved (in God’s grace) by belief only and that works are only a natural byproduct of that belief. Some Christians believe that God has preordained everything therefore man does not have free will, or at least a will that can be active in the salvation process or the salvation event.
As Catholics we definitely do not believe in the ALONE concept. Yet, the points our Fundamentalist brothers and sisters adhere to are interesting, it strikes up good conversation and thought. For instance, where does evil come from? If God is sovereign and if God created all things then surely He created evil? If He didn’t then who did, and if someone else created evil then God did not create all things. That statement then touches upon our free will? Do we have one? It is also connected to how we are saved, because if I do not have a free will then I have absolutely nothing to do with my salvation. There is a mouthful going on there, allow me to break it down into simple language.
Sirach tells us to choose between good and evil. He gets this notion from Moses who in Exodus exhorts the Israelites to choose between God’s law and its opposite – death. Man therefore has free will, he can choose. However, we cannot choose correctly or completely without God’s assistance. Man is wounded and he cannot heal himself, but when the healing begins or is offered we can choose to accept or not accept. The same goes for sin.
God did not create evil, rather it is born out of our own selves, the part of us that is wounded. Sirach reminds us, “God does not command anyone to act unjustly, to none does he give license to sin. This is also verified in the NT in the letter of James when he states, “God does not entice to evil, it begins with our own temptation which then leads to sin.” Another way to describe this is that sin is an absence of something it is the absence of good like darkness is the absence of light.
If we as Catholics believe that God is Sovereign and we believe in predestination does that mean that God planned for people to get sick, for young people to die, for marriages to fail, etc? Sickness and death is not a product or outcome of God, rather sickness, death, and misery are the outcome or product of our humanness, a humanness that is wounded, one that God is always looking to bring back to its original state, a state of perfect grace. That has already begun with Jesus’ sacrifice.
The best argument to show that God is sovereign and that we do have free will is love. Love explains everything better than what any one theologian, scholar, philosopher, etc. could ever answer. Love demands that free will be respected and it also demands that God who is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, and prefect to order all things and keep them in control. Love would not be love if God’s influence forced us to do good or to do evil. Love would also not be love if God detached himself from our everyday lives; it gives us a sense of peace and sense of comfort knowing that God is control.
How then does it work, that I can have free will and God still be sovereign? It is a deep mystery, but in the Church’s humble reflection it believes that when God made His plan and when He executes it He included within it all our choices. If we believe in free will alone, then God is a bystander, someone who leaves us to our own devices. If we believe in predestination alone then God is a bully, someone who forces Himself on others. We believe in both, Predestination AND Freewill. It brings balance and understanding to some very difficult concepts. So do not forget the word AND, it is quite important, it helps us understand our part on this great journey of life and it also helps us understand God’s active role in our lives, basically it is the bridge between the human AND divine. To delete the word AND from our theology leaves us a bridge that is broken, one we cannot pass over. We must keep that bridge intact, it is our means to understand ourselves as well as to understanding a loving God.
Fr. John
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