Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi, Lex Vivendi: Reflections on the 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time

There exists a relationship of mutuality between worship and belief. Aidan Kavanaugh, a prominent Liturgical Theologian, argues that the celebration of the liturgy is the prima theologia. That is, the first theology. According to him, doctrines develop from the liturgy and these doctrines in turn inform the celebration of the liturgy. This sums up what we mean by Lex orandi, lex credendi. However, since we do not only do liturgy but leave the liturgical space to continue the liturgy after the liturgy in the world, there is the need to explain how we should live in the world. The way Catholics ought to live should be informed by the liturgy and the creed that are developed and expressed in the liturgy. So, what we believe and act upon in the world ought to flow from the liturgy and should lead us back to the liturgy. This connects Lex vivendi with the other two - lex orandi and lex credendi. In the liturgy the church enacts her faith through ritual actions, prayers and proclamations. But the liturgy is not an end in itself, such that we do the liturgy and go home and do no more. The church has the mandate to sanctify the earth. This is why worship must lead to mission and back.

Very often we hear critics of the church argue that the church’s engagement with what is considered political or even secular, especially questions on morality and the environment, are peripheral to the church’s mission. It therefore seems important to clarify, whenever we have the opportunity, that the mission of the church is to the whole world. This includes all human beings and the whole universe. I have had conversations with people who are content with a church that focuses only on soteriology and eschatology, that is, salvation and the life hereafter, and they charge the church to “Preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and refrain from talking about present human suffering.” For these people, topics such as abortion, divorce and remarriage, how you vote, what causes/charities you donate to, communion to those in irregular unions, immigration, climate, gender and the confusion around it, and a host of others, should be avoided because of the emotions that arise from them and the division they engender. While I agree that we must be cautious to keep the focus on Jesus Christ, we must be careful not to canonize as sacrosanct a narrow understanding of the gospel. Jesus came to save the whole world, not an aspect of it. The gospel does not only have vertical ramifications, such that it is only between us and God, it must engage with structures and systems of injustice and sin, as well as human relations with one another and with the whole of the created order. Jesus did not confine his preaching to the temple. Neither did he restrict it to those who were receptive of his message. He went even to those who rejected him and orchestrated his death. Down through the ages, the proclamation of the gospel has always been marked by controversies and outright resistance. Christianity has always been a marginal movement. This is why we have martyrs. This is why many were willing to lay down their lives in defense of what they believed to be true, good and beautiful.

Jesus challenged the status quo. He was not comfortable with providing food for the hungry, he challenged the system that kept people impoverished. He came to lead people to heaven, but he did not neglect to heal their bodily ailments or provide for their material needs. The challenge should be how to harmonize our preaching about Eschatology with addressing people's temporal and material needs. Catholic preaching and advocacy cannot be reduced only to the agendas of political parties or to preaching only about certain issues. Catholic expressions cannot only be cultic; they must be social as well. As important as the popular moral issues in Catholic circles might be, they do not exhaust all there is about the gospel. If I am pro-life, I must be open to life in all its stages. If I argue for the protection of the life of the unborn, I must also advocate for the protection of the lives of those already born - migrants, whether legal or illegal. Profiling or categorizing persons as “legal” or “illegal” only fits into the narratives and constructs created by persons with vested interests that are largely antithetical to the gospel’s call for universal love. And Christians must resist this.

Our Eucharistic bread is Christ taken and broken for the life of all - black, white, brown, any shade of color we can imagine. It is Christ taken and broken for Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians and all persons of whatever political persuasions. Let us stop dividing people using Jesus as justification as though he came to die only for a few. Paul’s challenge to the Corinthians in the second reading for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A (two weekends ago) is very instructive: “Is Christ divided?”(1 Corinthians 1: 13).

May Jesus bless you, and may Our Lady protect you!