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The Southern Cross, Page 4
Thursday, September 14, 2000
Commentary
Not pride, but humility
T he Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of
the Faith has recently issued two documents
that have caused a stir in ecumenical and interre
ligious circles. Both emphasize an unpopular
point: one religion is not “as good as” another.
The new declaration “Dominus Iesus: On the
Unicity and Salvific Universality of Jesus Christ
and the Church” (see page 1) reaffirms the
Church’s constant teaching that Jesus Christ is
the only Savior of the world: “there is no other
name ... by which we are to be saved” (Acts
4:12). And it restates the teaching of the Second
Vatican Council that despite a certain level of
communion with other Christian churches, the
“church of Christ... continues to exist fully only
in the Catholic Church.”
A few weeks ago, the CDF issued a 4-page
clarification of the phrase “sister churches,”
pointing out that the “one, holy, catholic and
apostolic Church” (which is fully present only in
the Roman Catholic Church) is mother to all the
local churches. She herself is mother, not sister.
Why would the vast and powerful Catholic
Church—with a billion adherents, she is by far
the largest religious organization in the world,
comprising half or more of the world’s Christian
population—feel the need to repeat such asser
tions? Perhaps the influence of relativism and an
unthinking “tolerance” has become so prevalent
that even Catholics have been tempted to forget
or to downplay the unique saving role of Christ
and the theological fact that there is and can be
only one Church.
When anyone, Christian or not, receives God’s
grace, he or she is receiving Christ, who is that
grace, consciously or not. If a Jew, a Moslem, or
even a Hindu or a Buddhist outshines a pro
fessed Christian in the living out of the grace
received, it is to the Christian’s shame.
Likewise, all baptized believers belong, to
some degree, to the one, holy, catholic and apos-
(Continued on page I I)
Look for the best
By Ticki Lloyd
he other day, I was thumbing
through a well-worn book of
Psalms given to me by a saintly
priest years ago. The beauty of the
old book is that it has the psalms in
English and Latin. And it’s a real
pleasure to read; it keeps me in
touch with Latin, which I love so
dearly.
I remember my eyes resting on
Psalm 139:14, “I praise you for
you are fearful and wonderful.
Wonderful are your works.” How
often do we think of ourselves as
wonderful people? We would prob
ably be embarrassed by the thought
of it. But, if we consider that we
are wonderful not because of any
thing we have done, but because of
what God has done in creating us,
we might take a different view of
ourselves.
Look around! The world is full of
wonderful people. We might look
different, dress differently and have
different views, but the amazing
thing we all have in common is the
Spirit of God within us. If we fully
understood the wisdom of God
with us at all times, we would
never limit what we can achieve.
God never withholds guidance
from us, nor does he reserve it for
certain times. He is constantly with
us. When we are distraught over
something and there seems to be no
way out of doubting that God is
near, we have to remember that he
works wonders in heaven and on
earth.
We are not supposed to judge
others, but sometimes we do. Have
you ever met someone and formed
your opinion of what you thought
they may be like? Ninety-nine per
cent of the time we are wrong.
Sometimes we judge people by the
way they walk, talk or dress partic
ularly, the way they dress. We may
never know what’s in the mind,
heart and soul of the “airhead”
under a big hat. The cover of a
book may not always be an indica
tion that a story of quality and
inspiration is inside. The same is
true of people. A first impression
based on a person’s outward ap
in ourselves, others
pearance is not a representation of
the “real” person.
Wonderful possibilities open up
to us when we are willing to think
the best of ourselves and see the
best in others. Vision like this frees
us to be creative, and we can
appreciate others as God’s “won
derfully made creatures.”
All of us have gifts to offer.
Sometimes we view our talents as
insignificant. We may not mind
sharing our time and our money
with others, but when it comes to
sharing our talent, we begin to
think we have nothing to share. We
may never know how our talent can
give encouragement to someone
who needs self-assurance.
Sometimes we may feel that oth
ers are more favored by God than
we are, more graced than we. We
have to remember that God alone
reads the human heart. He alone
decides what is best for us. When
we recognize that God is the One
Presence in our lives, we can deal
with any situation. Just as our
physical body needs a constant
supply of nourishment to function,
our spirit needs the nourishment of
prayer.
In growing up, many of us have
taken journeys that had their share
of ups and downs, which brought
us to where we are. Our bodies
changed, and our thoughts as well.
We evolved into who we are and
what we are, each one unique and
wonderful. It is faith that brings us
to knowledge. When we stay close
to the faith that softens our heart,
we experience an ongoing revela
tion of God’s love.
When we walk in darkness and
don’t feel God working in our
lives, perhaps we’re walking with
our eyes closed, and it will require
God’s healing love to open them.
Then will we come to believe that
we are truly a wonderful people of
God.
Ticki Lloyd is a parishioner of
Saint Francis Xavier Church,
Brunswick.
It’s O.K. to love myself
By John McCormack
ome days, loving myself is beyond my
reach. Yet psychotherapists and spiritual
counselors exhort us to love ourselves. The
experts tell us again and again that the view I
have of myself will shape my emotional well
being, significantly influence my physical
health, color my view of others, and even influ
ence my view of God.
Some students of human nature speculate that
all of us have an inferiority complex. We com
pare ourselves to others and judge ourselves to
be “less than.” Sometimes I flaunt my inadequa
cies, wearing a long face and frightened brow
for all to see. At other times I hide my inadequa
cies amazingly well, appearing confident and
blessed. I imagine others looking at me and say
ing how good or blessed I am. But always I
walk with a shadow within me hiding, behind a
tree or around a comer next to my soul. There is
a whisper waiting to be said the first,time I
stumble, “you jerk!”
Counselors and therapists warn us that what
we whisper to ourselves shapes our view of our
selves, forms our self-concept, grows or squash
es our self-esteem. If we whisper encouraging,
compassionate, hopeful thoughts praising our
efforts, our self-esteem blossoms. If we repri
mand and condemn ourselves with critical whis
pers from deep within, then our self-esteem
plummets. When we judge ourselves worthless,
we condemn ourselves to the dungeons of our
own internal hells. Some hours, some days, I
think it is impossible to love myself.
Beware the negative whispers. I must take a
look at myself through the lens of human com
passion. We all stmggle daily to meet our basic
needs. We do the best we can given our circum
stance. Our resources are limited and we regu
larly fail. Most of us keep trying. The source of
our worth is our constant effort.
For those of us who believe in God, there is
more than human compassion, there is also
Divine Love. I am a child of God. He so loved
me that He sent His son to save me. If I can but
hold this truth close to my heart, especially
when I am failing, then I can love myself with
out excuse and without question.
When I was little I was taught that the worst of
all sins was pride. I learned to put myself down
so as not to be boastful or cocky. Regrettably, I
did not hear them tell me that the only danger
was putting myself higher than God. So long as
I acknowledged that all of my wonderful person
al gifts were personal presents from Him, then I
could be proud of my goodness.
There are moments I still struggle to believe
that. What a freeing and glorious thought: I can
fully accept all of my wonderful strengths so
long as I acknowledge that they are His presents
to me. I do not have to pretend I am less than I
am. I do not have to feel guilty if I feel proud.
God wants me to whisper to myself about my
goodness. It's OK to love myself. Hallelujah!
John C. McCormack, PhD, PC, is a
parishioner of Saint Mary’s on the Hill,
Augusta.