The Church today faces multitudes of heretical pseudo-Christian views, which tend to embrace relativism and dualism. Even among catechists today, some do not seem to confidently distinguish the authentic Christianity from various heretical Christianity-like thoughts. This reality leaves catechumens in lukewarm positions in terms of faith and doctrinal understanding. Perhaps, this is one reason why a significant number of confirmants cease to practice their faith and are drifted away from the Church.
Such a reality is nothing new or particular to this
post-modernistic era. It was certainly a problem during the time of St. Irenaeus,
who served as Bishop of Lyons, during the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius
Antoninus. And, Irenaeus has been known for his fierce fight against heretics
of that time, especially Gnosticism, as well as, Marcionism. His seminal work, “Adversus Haereses”(Against Heresies)
refutes their heresies, while defending the authentic Christian doctrine and
interpretation of the Christian Biblical Cannon, against the doctrinal and hermeneutic
distortions by Gnosticism and Marcionism. In this work, Iraneaus also expressed
his criticism against Montanism.
Irenaeus was in an advantageous position to defend
the authenticity of the Christian doctrine and biblical hermeneutics because
his theological view was influenced by St. Polycarp of Smyrna, whose view as
influenced by St. John the Evangelist. In a way, theologically speaking,
Irenaeus’ authentic doctrinal and hermeneutical view has rather straight
connection to the Apostolic teaching: from John to Polycarp to Irenaeus.
In the Catholic Church, we honor St. Irenaeus’ life
dedicated to Christ and his Church, defending the doctrine and Biblical
interpretation, against heretics, such as Gnostics and Marcionists, on June 28.
And the Scripture Readings for his memorial feast day are: Genesis 18:16-33
(First Reading) and Matthew 8:18-22 (Gospel Reading).
The First Reading, through Abraham’s negotiative
dialogue with God on His justice against Sodom’s and Gomorrha’s sins and His mercy
for the righteous, we learn that God may withhold His plan to send judgement
against those who are sinful for the sake of the righteous among them. This is
particularly the case when there is a righteous person to intercede on behalf
of the righteous among sinners.
In reading Genesis 18:16-33 as the First Reading to
honor St. Iraneaus, for his righteousness in vigorously defending the Church’s
authentic doctrine and Biblical hermeneutics, against heretics, what was
Abraham in this reading reflects what Iraneaus was during his time as Bishop of
Lyons.
Iraneaus showed what the orthodoxy is against
various heretical views, which tried to draw Christians away from the authentic
teaching. This way, Christians could
prevent themselves from being misled by heretics. Remember, Iraneaus served as
Bishop of Lyons, as shepherd for Christians of Lyons. Being shepherd, bishop’s
role has been always to intercede to God on behalf of the faithful in his jurisdiction
– to advocate for the sheep that he shepherds, as Abraham did to God for the
righteous people in Sodom and Gomorrha. In addition, he also defends the faithful
in his see against any heretical views.
Reflecting on St. Iraneaus’ fight against heretics -
distinguishing the authentic Christianity from heretical pseudo-Christianity, the
Gospel Reading (Matthew 8:18-22) recalls how Jesus confronted and examined who
was with genuine heart to follow his way. In this Gospel text, Jesus challenged
two men, who came to him, expressing their “interest” in following him
respectively.
The first one was a scribe, and he said to Jesus, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go”(Matthew 8:19). But, to him, Jesus said, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head”(Matthew 8:20).
Matthew did not tell if this scribe actually
followed Jesus or not. But, by saying, “Foxes
have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to
rest his head” to him, Jesus was telling, “Do you really know what it means
to be my disciple? It means you have nothing for yourself but live solely for
my mission, as I do so for my Father’s will for you! If you cannot embrace this
and practice wholeheartedly, you cannot follow me”. Jesus did not accept those who were resolved
to follow him and to have nothing for themselves for the sake of his mission.
Many people tried to follow Jesus out of mere
curiosity and sensationalism resulting from the astonishing acts and teaching
of his. Jesus knew these people would not make it through in following him.
They are like the seed sown on the rocky ground with shallow soil (i.e. Matthew
13:5-6, 20-21). Those who try to follow Jesus out of curiosity and
sensationalism are likely to be influenced by heretical views, especially of
these appealing to sensationalism.
The other man, whom Matthew describes as a disciple,
came to Jesus and said, “Lord, let me go
first and bury my father”(Matthew 8:21). To him, Jesus replied, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead”(Matthew
8:22).
What this dialogue between a man and Jesus teach us?
This also challenges us how genuine our will and
desire to follow Jesus as his disciples.
If it is genuine and truly authentic, then, we know
our priority is always on Jesus and his mission. Everything else, even matters
so dear to us, like issues of our family, should be left behind for the sake of
Jesus and his mission, in order to be true disciples of Jesus – as the first
batch of the disciples left their fishing net and followed Jesus immediately
upon his call (i.e. Matthew 4:20).
Those who are prone to be affected by heretical
views do not have firm resolve, resulting in lukewarm “quizas-quizas” faith. To them, heretical views can be “tempting”,
though they may actually truly want to follow Jesus and embrace his authentic
teaching. But Jesus demands absolute and unshakable determination on us, ready
to follow him immediately without any hesitation, at any time.
In heretical views, Jesus’ teaching is often blurred
and diluted by different thoughts. However, if you have solid understanding of
the orthodox doctrine and teaching of Jesus, you are less likely to be affected
by heretical teachings. To follow and remain following Jesus, it is
indispensable that you have such a rock-solid understanding of the orthodox
doctrine, which straightforwardly reflects the teaching of Jesus. If you do,
then, you know and accept the authentic way of life as a disciple of Jesus:
nothing for yourself but all for Jesus and his mission – even though you need
to prioritize Jesus and his mission above your family.
We honor St. Iraneaus, who interceded for righteous
followers of Jesus in his diocese, as bishop, though it was plagued with
heretics like Gnostics and Marcianists. In this regard, Iraneaus was like Abraham
in the First Reading. We are also
inspired by St. Iraneaus for his steadfast defense of the orthodoxy of the
doctrine against heretics, so that the righteous followers of Christ remained faithful
to Christ and his teaching through the doctrine. This way, there was no
pseudo-disciples, whom Jesus weeded out, as reflected in the Gospel Reading, in
his see.
Today, the Church continues to face challenges from
post-modernistic heretics. And there is always a risk of having the orthodox
doctrine being diluted by these heretical thoughts, including relativism and
new age spirituality. Even some priests and bishops today seem to incorporate
some, if not all or embrace, heretical views, for “tolerance” or “diversity” or
“aggiornamento”. We do need to be
very careful with such “progressive Christianity” views.
Jesus was willing to reach out to all. However, as
the Gospel Reading reminds us, he only accepts those who can resolvedly embrace
his way, keeping him and his teaching as priority without compromise. It means
that we exercise the virtue of tolerance in our pastoral ministries, while
steadfastly keeping the orthodoxy in the Church’s doctrine, defending it
against heretics.
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