‘Ambiguity’. ‘Adventure’. In the visiting priest’s homily at Mass last Sunday in our local parish these two words galvanized the congregation.
Faith in God is like marriage. It is a covenant more than a contract, a relationship whose ambiguity, while not without risk, is pregnant with adventure and potential. In faith as in marriage, there are no contractual guarantees that what we expect or ‘signed up for’ will occur. Our only assurance is that God is involved, that he loves us, that he knows what he is doing, and that he rewards our faithfulness with redemption.
And again, as in marriage, the value of a covenant is measured not by accomplishment but by commitment.(One is reminded of sainted Mother Theresa’s reply to her incredulous interviewer that God calls us not to be successful but to be faithful).
A covenant, unlike a contract, leaves room for – indeed expects – freedom of judgement and activity within the parameters of mutual trust. For this reason, in a covenant as in marriage, the unexpected and the unplanned can be causes of great fulfillment.
Jewish Scripture, which constitutes the majority of the Christian Bible, is replete with marital imagery representing our relationship, our covenant, with God. The more famous examples include passages from the prophets Hosea, Isaiah and Ezekial where God identifies his relationship with the Israelites as that of a caring spouse. In the book The Song of Songs the marital intimacy is likened to God’s concern for us. In the New Testament, St. Paul employs the same imagery in his letters to the Corinthians and to the Ephesians where he describes the Church as the Bride of Christ. In the last book of the Bible, Revelations, Heaven celebrates the long awaited ‘marriage’ of the Lamb (Christ) and his Church.
The concept of covenant versus contract applies to Catholic philanthropy as well. Like faith in God, Catholic philanthropy is also a covenant between a giver and a receiver. While at times it may risk failure or lack of success, it too involves ambiguity pregnant with potential and adventure. Philanthropy – certainly philanthropy inspired by Scripture – recognizes and respects the relationship between giver and receiver as that of partners who equally possess the imago dei. This recognition allows both parties to relate to each other within the open and fruitful parameters of trust, parameters which mysteriously include the gentle guidance of the Holy Spirit. Just as with a covenant, such philanthropy is ambiguous. Mysteriously, there is an exchange of grace where the giver becomes the receiver and the receiver becomes the giver. And it is adventurous. Who can predict an acorn will sprout or how high its oak will grow?
Ambiguity and adventure. The advance of the Kingdom is sometimes ambiguous and always adventurous. What a blessing it is to know that it proceeds not under the terms of a contract but with the trust of a covenant.
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