God opened the door of faith to the pagans ( Acts 14:27)

We are asked to allow Christ to be in the centre of the lives also of those who may not share our faith at the moment. That is the attitude God wants. What does this mean? – that the Church is Catholic. The Greek word catholicos(καθολικός) means “concerning the whole, universal, general”. Originally this word designated a financial or civil office in the Roman Empire and was adopted by the Church to describe her nature. “Catholic” means to remain open and available. Openness is transparency and a loving care of others and an always inclusive attitude. Open means that there are no walls and borders. It describes a friendly attitude towards a stranger. Openness is a characteristic attitude of a host and a guest, a superior and an inferior.

One of the rotten fruits of the Reformation is prejudice and the lack of hospitality which had not been known before. Even now we suffer from that time. Openness means respect for others, respect to offer help and protection of uniqueness, individuality and decisions.

When it comes to the spiritual dimension of life, it means to make Christ available for everyone and proclaim Him as the Saviour and Redeemer. Everybody has a right to share the Good News and to be embraced by the Church. Openness also means to give freedom for various philosophies and theologies, ways of being and doing, but yet remaining within the range of the voice of the Shepherd, His teaching and Truth, remaining within the range of the authority of the moral and doctrinal and liturgical and social teaching of the Church. That means openness has nothing to do with the relativism of moral life with its principle commandment tolerance and multicultural unification.

In fact, the Church is multi-ethnic and yet she is characterised by one culture set up by Christ’s teaching. The mission of the Church is then to share the doctrine of the faith openly with everyone without exclusion, until the point it is transmitted into every culture, so that the salvation in Christ the Lord and Ten Commandments. elevated to higher standard by Christ, is embraced and accepted by every nation, every human being, in every corner of the world.

Fr Stan