Corruption in High Places.......Begins Within! - FR CONRAD SALDANHA

The moment we think that corruption has been curbed, it then erupts all over again.  For corruption is always part of us and in us. If someone says; “the malaise is deep in society”, we may say yes to it in complete agreement.  But when I say; “that the malaise of corruption is deep in us”, then one raises an eyebrow of doubt. No one wants to fault themselves. This problem is as old as creation itself. Adam blamed Eve and the story continues in increasing measure.

How corrupt can the most innocent and the saintly man be? When Scripture tell us that “all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God” (Rm. 3:23) then it also reminds the faithful people of God about our individual state of corruption.

In our time it is a common theme, in the church to speak against corruption in government and other places. I find this no different than the political game of the shrewd politicians who play the blame game and even go to the extent of attributing every calamity to a foreign hand so as to distract the people’s attention from their own failures and problems. This in no way means that we should not seek to eliminate or voice our concern against the evil of corruption rooted in society.  But the misplaced priorities will not allow us to speak at right moments and situations but will only make us speak with a populist agenda and aimed at distracting our detractors.

In the Church, which includes you and me, can be seen much of what we are talking about here. But even to point a finger at the church as something external to ourselves is a corruption of thinking. It is like looking at an external figure to make a scapegoat of.  When we fail in our response to our Lord and Master to reach out in proclaiming the good news of Christ and find all kinds of excuses not to do so we are, in a way, contributing to corruption in society. To be fixated on proclaiming gospel values apart from Christ, who alone gives substance and true meaning to values, is as good as corrupting the message of God.

There are degrees and levels of corruption in society. If I rob a man of his image and dignity then perhaps few would bother but if I rob a man of all his living than many would object to it.  There are human priorities which may not always see corruption as it is supposed to see.  We keep worrying about these externals, and if the media were to rake up an issue, it bothers everyone and everyone wants to jump into the bandwagon to denounce and reduce a person or governing individuals and bodies to nothingness.

Just as human beings have their priorities, we too as Christians need to know that there are Godly priorities too. There are sin’s that bother us, our consciences are much stricken and we may get worked up about this. Yet there are more sinful acts that we commit, and our conscience may never disapprove of. Often we see the mole in our brother’s eye, whilst, ignoring the log in our own eye (cfr.Mt.7:3-5). We cast stones at others as if we are sinless and innocent beings (cfr.Jn. 8:7). We ourselves may walk in all types of corruption in opposition to the Word of God, and yet may be bothered about other people’s sin.  In the hierarchy of order, the breaking of God’s commandments is the gravest of sin and wrongdoing, more than anything that our human agenda may be seeking to correct. For these are God’s priorities. They were given us by Him, so that we would come to a knowledge, of our acts of wrongdoings, when compared to these commandments of God. If in spite of being the inheritors of the commandments we still falter, what would happen to us if we did not have the commandments?

Since by nature i.e. our fallen nature is corrupt, we are in need of a savior to save us from this body doomed to corruption (cfr. 7:24); a conscience ill formed and mind that is carnal and hostile to God (cfr. Rom.8:7). We need to hear the Word of life, the Word of freedom that can set us free. Today the greatest corruption in the Church is to reduce the Word of God and find faults in its many words. There are some, who assert with arrogance and say that the human sciences are much more tested and true than God’s word. This is like attacking the very institution that is able to save us from corruption; killing the very goose that gives the golden egg. The secular governments of the world in order to fight corruption need to create institutions that will keep a check on the corruption that humans in authority are prone to. But in the Church we don’t really require such institution to handle corruption because we have the Word of God and a living faith whereby the God of all history is still at work in our midst and among His chosen ones. But when individuals in the Church reject the very Word that brought them into existence then it will even reject the institutions that flows from it; the magisterium. As a consequence, we will have an institution of autocracy and dictatorship, seeking obedience from others, and they themselves obedient to no one. In other words, even if there is any obedience then it is only in the external forum; personally they would ignore, or even encourage rebellion, against the Church of Christ. Rightly did Jesus say; “by their fruit you shall know what manner of tree it is”! (Lk.6:44).

By rejecting the Word of God, there would be a new program which would be worldly, and we would have forums and institutions to fight evil and corruption external to itself, shallow, rather than measures to fight the corruption within.  We could have new visions and mission statements rather than finding our mission in Christ’s mission for us.

When would an institution or a firm think of changing its mission or having a new vision-mission statement? There could be only two situations in which this could happen:

   1) If the new boss has taken over. 

   2) If the previous vision has been a failure. 

The above seems apparently true in reality! Who is that deceiver that has taken over from Christ? But for those who hold on to the faith of Christ neither of the two has happened and yet we have parishes which have been encouraged to have a new vision-mission statement rather than find their vision and mission in Christ’s vision for us. He is still the boss in the church, He owns it for He has purchased us in His precious blood and His mission still holds true now and for all generation to come. There’s a dearth of theologians who could point out the corruption in an institution which is supposed to act as light of the world. Is it that instead of we, influencing the world the allure of the world has managed to influence us.

Instead, the priority now is to build a community–a human priority based on issue based unity.  It seems a competition with Hitler and the ilk, which forged a great unity of their people and their cause too seemed noble and patriotic, at least for those living in their era. That was an issue based community too. The necessity and priority of community building and unity has given way to much more important values of life. Truth of Christ has become a lesser value than human values and reasoning’s, which ultimately seeks to suppress every voice of dissent and gathering up people who are like minded and suits their designs. Communities not based on the Gospel but based on worldly values, are destructive of the institution of Christ.

The proliferation of New Age practices in the name of spirituality and then presenting it in a so called Christianized pill is abhorrent and another example of corruption. I often hear of text taken out of context from hagiographical writings and sacred Scripture as supportive evidence for propounding false ideologies and the practice of such spiritualities.

The God revealed by Christ JESUS takes a corrupt feminine form and theology becomes a perspective which carries with it aspect of male battering. Those who propagate this may go to every extent to save a woman and in the bargain may not realize that they have crucified a thousand other women to the cross of immense suffering and pain. The blind has led the blind, and they fall into the pit of corruption is near at hand (cfr. Mt.15:14).  The Scripture assures us of human dignity even in undignified situations (cfr.2Cor. 4:7-14).

The Sociological perspective does the noble job of imputing no guilt to individuals. New terms have to be used to describe old sinful activities so that they may not be condemned in this life and the eternal does not matter.  Whereas old concepts to describe a Christian as a fundamentalist and conservative is perfectly legitimate to these social corrupts. The contradictions between the one and the other don’t matter because the corruption of truth teaches that truth can never be objective and that it is relative. Yet what is relative to them they will hold on to it objectively!

Dialogue becomes the new and absolute methodology for solving existential problems because of one’s arrogant confidence in self to know and understand all truth. Not to recognize one’s corrupt self is the greatest form of corruption. Even in our dialogue if the ultimate goal of Proclamation of Christ has no place than that dialogue is movement towards growing in corruption. “Christ, the final Adam, by the revelation of the mystery of the Father and His love, fully reveals man to man Himself and makes His supreme calling clear”. (Vat. II, GES, Para. 22:1). Hence the foremost dialogue is that of the self with the Supreme Being who has revealed Himself to us in Christ Jesus and thus makes us fit for dialogue with others as His instrument through the working of the Holy Spirit. Similarly, on the other hand, if this supreme calling is not made clear to others, through the preaching of the Gospel, than it is only wallowing in deception. The worst form it takes is, when the very proponents of dialogue show intolerance, and assert themselves.  Is it because he is He? Be careful if someone calls you to dialogue only to make you a victim of his corrupt deception!

The worst form of corruption is when the right thought and sane thinking is suppressed and those who hold on to destructive liberal views are encouraged to the hilt.  The ones, who point out the vacuum in thinking, could be falsely accused and hounded and even stripped and exposed for public maligning. One would only gather-up yes men in their coterie, and men who oppose only the externals but internally are quite at home with the darkness of corruption. Abuse of power is the order of the day because we have allowed this coterie to speak to our consciences like the false prophet of old rather than allowing God to speak and at whose service we were ordained. Ordained to be His instrument and yet instrument of one’s own voice. By rejecting the Lord we become not His witnesses, but rather continue to remain a slave of Satan.

In the great teaching of Christ, in the Gospel of Luke Ch. 18:10-14,  there is hope for those who are corrupt or rather for those who acknowledge their corruption in life, but there is no hope for those who refuse to see their own corruption. (Who in reality are the real corrupt, like the ruling Pharisee in this Gospel passage).  Awareness and knowing does not lead us to freedom but it is grace working in us through faith.(cfr.Eph.2:8) Christ Jesus’ very mission in life was to free us from this bondage to sin and corruption and set us free for God.

Prayer: Father help me to acknowledge my sinfulness always and give me the humility of spirit to know my true self and that apart from you I cannot be freed from my corrupt way of life.  Help me to recognize that your sacrifice on the cross was on account of the corrupt sinful ways of men and that your willing surrender to the cruelty of men was to free us from all corruption. Come to me Lord and free me.