Religion is so much an integral part of human life that it is unimaginable to find any human beings who do not subscribe to a certain form of religion, be it institutionalized ones such as Buddhism, Christianity, Islam and Judaism etc., or some modern belief systems such as scientism or New Age. Religion provides us with a worldview, answering crucial existential questions such as why we are here, where we will go, how this universe came into existence etc. and etc. At a certain stage of social evolution, rulers relied on religions to provide them legitimacy of their sovereignty. Time and again, religion had been the only checking force available against tyranny. Religion inspires and channels a lot of passions into artistic and scientific creations. To repeat, man is more than a political animal. Man is a religious animal. (I refrain from saying that man is the only animal on earth that is able to exhibit religious behaviours because some animal psychologists claimed to have shown "superstitious" behaviours in cats under laboratory observations.)
The Church and the State have long been antagonists in the fighting for the allocation of resources. In more harmonious times, temporal matters are relegated to the State and spiritual matters to the Church. Alas! Most of the time, human affairs are so tangled that it is rather impossible to draw the line between spiritual and temporal. It is rather difficult to practise what Jesus taught.
Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. (Matthew 22:21)
Even this verse hints at the primacy of God's matter over Caesar's matter and such an interpretation is justified. Christians' primary loyalty is pledged to God, not to Caesar. In times of trials and tribulations, worldly rulers will always be suspicious of the patriotism of Christians.
Evil is a fact of life. It is a mystery because no explanation has ever been satisfactorily given as to why the benevolent God allows evil and sufferings on earth. Sin has been advanced to explain some of the evil and sufferings of the good. Again, why the all-knowing God did not stop the falling of man before it actually happened. Sin exists perhaps because it is functional. It exists for the good of man, for his growth, his maturity and his sanctification. (Refer to my blog on July 16, 2011).
Chinese Communists are atheists. They allow religions to operate in the mainland because religions provide services for the benefits of the Central Government which needs to open up to foreigners. The Roman Catholics are troublesome in particular because of their loyalty to the Pope, to the Vatican which the Central Government sees as a State. In addition, Vatican is useful as a pawn to charge against Taiwan. Therefore, the Chinese Central Government can sometimes be tolerant and sometimes be trigger-happy with the Chinese Catholic Church. Bishops are overseers of the local churches. In recent years, the consecration of bishops has become the bone of contention. In the end, Catholics in the mainland provinces suffer.
Bishops are successors to the Apostles and the Pope is the head of the college of bishops. The consecration of a bishop needs the laying of hands from three apostolic bishops who are in communion with the Pope. Apostolic bishops means their consecrations can be traced all the way back to the apostles. This makes sense. Now, the Communists have learnt the trick. On July 14, they "kidnap" four apostolic bishops to consecrate a bishop they choose and control. The diocese already has an apostolic bishop in communion with the Pope. There is actually no vacancy for another bishop. These public security officers no only interfere with Church matters, They have breached the Chinese Constitution.
"No state organ, public organization or individual may compel citizens to believe in, or not to believe in, any religion; nor may they discriminate against citizens who believe in, or do not believe in, any religion. The state protects normal religious activities. No one may make use of religion to engage in activities that disrupt public order, impair the health of citizens or interfere with the educational system of the state. Religious bodies and religious affairs are not subject to any foreign domination." (Article 36)
The Constitution has not been respected by those public security officers. It has become a dead document in the hands of these law-enforcers. Those who did this have no fear of God because they do not believe in God. They have no authority to force people to do things they don't want to and yet they have violated their victims' conscience. Their action is evil. On the other hand, the Pope has already appointed a bishop to that diocese. Now he has no choice but to excommunicate the bishops so consecrated, though they are victims. The whole situation is pathetic. It is very much like a father driving his son away from home because the son has been involuntarily transformed into a challenger to the father. A schism is looming on the horizon and the Pope has to take actions to contain the damage.
In the gospel reading today, we heard the parable of Wheat and Weed (Matthew 13:24-30). We have to live with evil until the end of the world. God allows its existence because it has so intertwined with every fabric of our daily life that its removal will bring down some good people as well.
The servants said to him, 'Then do you want us to go and gather them?'
But he said, 'No; lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them (Matthew 13:28b-29).
But how can we be sure that the good will not be affected by the evil.
No, we can't and we don't have to be sure because nothing is certain.
Ideally speaking, such evil and sufferings are opportunities for our growth, our maturity and our sanctification. Though there is no guarantee, we place our faith in God. We believe that God will give us enough strength and wisdom to weather through. Such times of trial and tribulation are opportunities for us to prove our worth. God has given us the Holy Spirit, who is our seal, our guarantee. He will assist us.
for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words (Romans 8:26b).
Dear Lord, Your wisdom is too deep for us to fathom. We trust in Your leniency. We pray for the Church in China. May she one day enjoy the freedom to worship You without interference. Amen.
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