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vertical to Christ and horizontal to each other
Growing in the Lord: Holiness and Justice
We know we are called to holiness. "As he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in every aspect of your conduct, for it is written, 'Be holy because I am holy."(1 Pet 1:15-16). Some however have the idea that holiness is just equivalent to being prayerful, religious, even ascetic. While these can be part of being holy, these are not enough, especially if they are mere external practices. In fact, there were a people who acted very piously but were rebuked by Jesus. These were the Pharisees. One fasted twice a week and paid tithes on his whole income (Lk 18:12), others were zealous evangelizers (Mt 23:15), still others gave honor to prophets and saints (Mt 23:29), but Jesus had very harsh words for them. He called them hypocrites.
We in CFC truly desire to seek God and to know His ways (Is 58:2), and one accepted way of being closer to God is by fasting. But God through Isaiah spoke about true fasting.
"This, rather, is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own." (Is 58:6-7).
What then is the fasting the Lord desires? It is working at justice. It is giving to others what is their due in the Lord. It is becoming our brothers' keeper. It is truly loving our neighbor as ourselves.
Thus there are two dimensions to our life in Christ, the internal and the external, the spiritual and the social. We are to grow in personal sanctifcation, but we are also to serve others, taking responsibility for the life of our brethen. But it is important to see that the two need to go together. It cannot just be one dimension without the other, otherwise we could easily go astray. If we just looked to the "spiritual," we could become pious hypocrites. If we looked to the social dimension, we could become secular do-gooders without the solid foundation that is Christ.
In fact, holiness/righteousness and justice come from one Greek word. They are two sides of the same coin, so to speak. And so it is with faith and good work as James said, "What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, and one of you says to them, 'God in peace, keep warm, and eat well, but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it?' So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead." (Jas 2:14-17).
And so too we have the Great Commandment together with the Great Commission. We are to love God with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength, but we are also to love our neighbor as ourselves. And what better way to do than to live out the great commission, to evangelize, to bring good news of liberation in Jesus to the whole world, in fact to work at total human liberation.
Then we also look at the vertical and horizontal dimension of the cross. Jesus bids his disciples to take up their cross (Mt 16:24). The vertical points us to God, the horizontal points us to our fellow men. One part without the other would not make a cross, and without the cross there is no redemption or sanctification.
Moving further, we see that in CFC too we have the Family Ministries and the Social Ministries. The Family Ministries, building the Church of the Home, are there to provide a support environment which brings us closer to God. The Social Ministries, building the Church of the Poor, are our means of participating in the work for total human liberation, in fight for justice and peace. They all form the one work of CFC, in pursuance of the one vision the Lord has given us.
Our call is clear. We are to be holy people who will work for justice in the world. We are to be people of God, journeying to our heavenly Jerusalem, but striving to build God's kingdom on earth in the here and now. As servants of the Lord, let us heed God's call.
"I, the Lord have call you for the victory of justice, I have grasped you by the hand; I formed you, and set you as a covenant of the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring our prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness." (Is 42:6-7)
Frank Padilla
Director, CFC Family Ministries
First published in Ugnayan, Nov/Dec 2001 issue
(Need Adobe Acrobat to view Ugnayan)
And in sfcnorcal.com, Lent 2002 issue
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