‘Whoever is not against us is for us’

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

WE need to understand these words Christ addressed to the apostle John who complained that he saw someone casting out devils in Christ’s name but did not follow the apostles. (cfr. Mk 9,38)

Of course, Christ forbade him, telling him that no one can do a miracle in Christ’s name and would soon speak ill of Christ. Christ, in effect, was warning John and the other apostles to be wary of what may be termed as an exclusivistic mentality, a danger quite common among those who may be regarded as active in Church life, usually in the parochial level.

We have to be aware that in the Church there are different gifts, charisms, spiritualities and ways of doing things, all of which are meant to build up and strengthen the Church as the living, if mystical, body of Christ. We just should learn to respect each other’s charism and see how we can cooperate with them so as to make the mystical body of Christ as organic, effective and fruitful as possible

St. Paul, in his First Letter to the Corinthians, expressed this truth of our faith when he said: “Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we are all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—ad we were all given the one Spirit to drink.” (12-13)

This, of course, requires us to be as open-minded as possible, an open-mindedness that can only be properly derived and developed if based on the true spirit of Christ.

It’s indeed good that we be faithful and loyal to the particular vocation, spirituality or charism that we have. That is a God-given gift that we should try our best to be most faithful to. We just have to see to it that such fidelity and loyalty do not prevent us from appreciating the other spiritualities, vocations and charisms within the Church.

More than that, we have to learn how to work in tandem and in solidarity with the other Church-approved spiritualities, no matter how different they may be from ours. In this, we have to take the initiative to know more about them and to see what we can do to be able to work with them for the good of the whole Church, since every spirituality, vocation and charism is meant for building up the Church.

We have to be wary of the danger of falling into some restrictive and exclusivistic lifestyle that would isolate, if not alienate, us from the others. This, sadly, is a common tendency among the many Church institutions and groups, giving rise to petty rivalries, jealousies and gossips.

Obviously, the higher authorities of the Church should exercise the prudence of how to orchestrate the different institutions with the different spiritualities in play. But each institution should do its part of coordinating and establishing linkages with the others.

There has to be mutual respect among them and the legitimate differences should be acknowledged, respected and made to work along the lines of complementation and supplementation in order to work for the common good of the Church.

We have to remember that no spirituality, vocation and charism has the exclusive possession of the universal essence of what is to be holy, of what true love is, etc. And every spirituality, vocation and charism is not a frozen thing, but a dynamic one, alive and always open for further enrichment, deepening and adaptation to changing circumstances.

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com