(Excerpts from an interview with Fr. Don Anton Saman Hettiarachchi, St. Anthony’s Bible Academy, SABA)
On the twenty first of September, we celebrated the Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist. The Gospel, attributed to him, portrays him as a moderate Theologian.
St. Matthew, the moderate thinker
Being more Jewish and conservative in origin, the Christian Community of St. Matthew (probably evangelized by St. James’ Group from Jerusalem) seemed more reluctant to be progressive and open to the Gentiles. The older ones in the Community made every effort to keep the status quo. But the new few ones seemed more open to the Gentiles and progressive-minded. Hence, there was an inevitable tension within the Community.
In this sitz im leben (setting-in-life), St. Matthew tows a middle path being in full conformity with the Mind of Christ. Traversing across the Gospel, let us see how his image as a moderate Theologian emerges.
The Evangelist turns to the Law abiding Jewish conservatives and hails the Law of Moses. The most famous example in the Gospel is Jesus’ words uttered in the Sermon on the Mount: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfil” (5,17). The Law of Moses, fulfilled by Christ, ought to be the Law of Christians, conservatives and radicals alike. Thus the Evangelist tries to resolve the tensions within.
Matthew also tells his Community not to be afraid of the Gentile mission, but to be open to the Gentiles. He presses this idea by quoting how Jesus Himself was open to the Gentiles in His mission on earth. At His Birth, it was the Gentile Magi who came to worship Him (2,1-12). In the body of the Gospel, He praised the faith of the Canaanite woman: “O woman, great is your faith!” (15,21-28). At the end of the Gospel, the Risen Lord sent out the disciples to the nations, both Jews and Gentiles: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations …” (28,19).
Matthew also often times speaks about forgiveness within the Community. That is because a divided community would have less credibility in outside witness.
In the Sermon on the Mount (5 – 7), Jesus spoke of the love of enemies, being good to all – to the good and evil. In the Ecclesial Discourse (18), Jesus upheld reconciliation of a brother in the community, instructed to be ready to forgive “seventy seven times” and narrated the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant.
Moderate thinking in the modern world
From Matthew’s Community to our world now! We live at a crucial time, when our thinking could easily be dragged to extremes. Such extreme mindedness could paralyze the life of the Christian Community and society.
If we excessively stress Liturgy (Lex orandi), for example, without seeing its necessary symbiosis to life (Lex vivendi), this would end up in ritualism and decadence of true religiosity. It would then be like in the days of prophet Amos, which saw a clear division between prophetism (represented by Amos of Tekoa, Judah) and priesthood (represented by Amaziah of Bethel, Israel). The prophet fearlessly proclaimed the Word of God denouncing the hollow prosperity of the North while the priest at Bethel, the royal sanctuary, served the human word of King Jeroboam II (monarchism).
On the other hand, the belittling of sacred Liturgy would end up, we must note, in the loss of the sense of the sacred and orientation of Christian life, for the Eucharist is “the source and summit of Christian life” (in the vision of Vatican II) and “the beating heart of the Church” (in the language of Pope Francis).
Similarly the over-consciousness of one’s caste, class or creed could endanger our balanced thinking and spark the fires of discord and dissension within the Community and country. The thirty-year-long civil war waged in Sri Lanka, 9/11, 4/21 and the ongoing rule of terror in Afghanistan stand as ghastly and gruesome examples within and off shores. Party politics is yet another divisive factor, deeply rooted in our social life. A Church divided within itself due to such factors could hardly bear witness. Hence moderate thinking is exigent.
The moderate thinking yields a plenty of good fruits. It could resolve the tensions within the Community of believers. It would also allow creativity in the life of the Church. While seeking unity in diversity, respecting the racial and cultural differences of members and ignoring the past mistakes as ‘past’, it would embrace all members without sidelining anyone.
Pope Francis, the moderate thinker
Pope Francis sets, in this regard, the best example for our times. He wants a Church like a field hospital, which is open to everyone and welcomes everyone with no questions. Example is better, he very well knows, than precept. He also knows as the supreme Leader of the Christian Community, ‘Gone is feudalism, being replaced with republicanism.’
In his Pontificate, the Bishop of Rome, the fresh air and spring time for the Church, has shown sure signs of reconciliation with Liberation Theologians, whilst preserving the time tested orthodoxy of the Church. Examples are galore. While writing his extraordinary encyclical, Laudato Si’, Pope asked suggestions and material from Leonardo Boff and thanked him one day before its publication. He knows very well that the Brazilian Boff was silenced in 1985 for his unorthodox writings and that he left the Franciscan Order as well as Catholic Priesthood in 1992.
Then on June 7, EWTN heralded the good news that Pope had sent ‘on his own initiative’ a birthday greeting on May 28 to Gustavo Gutierrez Merino, widely considered the Father of Liberation Theology, as he reached the landmark age of 90. His Holiness thanked the Dominican priest sincerely for his service to the Church and his dedication to the poor: “I thank God for what you have contributed to the Church and to humanity through your theological service and from your preferential love for the poor and discarded in society. Thank you for your efforts and for your way of challenging the conscience of each person, so that no one can be indifferent faced with the drama of poverty and exclusion.” Pope closed the letter encouraging the Peruvian thinker to “continue with your prayer and your service to others, giving witness to the joy of the Gospel.”
Back in 2015 – during the very Pontificate of Pope Francis, an article of Gutierrez came to be published in the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, which said that there are two schools of thought on poverty, both of which are rooted in the Gospel. The first form of poverty, he said, is focused on Christ’s sensitivity toward the poor and their suffering, while the second is that Christ himself “had lived a life of poverty, and so Christians, from their origin, understood that in order to be His disciples they also had to live a life of poverty.”
These are neither cosmetic actions nor empty show, but first fruits of an advanced, cultured and modest mind which resembles the Mind of Christ. It is this moderate thinking that we find in St. Matthew trying to keep both the conservatives and the progressives together. It is this thinking that is to be emulated by us recognizing its paramount significance in today’s socio-ecclesial context.
St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist, pray for us.
