4 November 2020
Memorial of Saint Charles Borromeo, bishop
In his letter to the Philippians, St. Paul sent a message that the mission of the Philippian Church is to “shine like stars in the world,” as allusion to the Isaianic theme of being a light to the nations (Is 49: 6; 55: 4-5). Paul then said that he will judge the success of this task on the basis of the Philippians faithfulness in holding forth or holding fast to the Word of life. Biblical scholars have debated the meaning of this passage. One school of thought believes that Paul wants their public witness to be consistent with what they believe. But another school of thought believes that Paul did not want his communities to evangelize since he did not explicitly instruct them to do so.
The situation in the letter to the Philippians reminds me of the recent political event in this nation. During the confirmation hearing of Justice Amy Coney Barrett, interestingly, there is a debate between Catholics on the application of her faith in her professional duty. Some of Barrett’s defenders have tried to assure the world that her Catholic faith is not a source of authority for her work as a judge. Therefore, there is no need to fear Barret’s faith. For some faithful Catholics, however, Justice Barrett’s position was quite disturbing because why would a Catholic judge like Barrett not allow her Catholic faith to influence her on the bench? Barrett’s position can be reflected in the immense legacy of President John F. Kennedy, who claimed that “I do not speak for my church on public matters and the church does not speak for me.” The bottom line is that Amy Barrett’s appointment was unsettling for some faithful Catholics because she might refrain from applying her Catholic faith in exercising her profession as a judge.
If we take a closer look at the issue of Justice Barrett’s Catholic faith, both camps of her supporters had missed seeing the missing piece of the puzzle: what is the Catholic faith? The Catholic faith aspect that they debated is about the moral law; whether Catholic moral law can be applied to judicial decisions. But faith by its nature is an encounter with the living God, an encounter that follows by a confession that Jesus is our Lord. Faith, then, is an assent of our minds and our hearts to proclaim “yes” to God. Having Catholic faith, then, is having a Catholic mind and Catholic heart.
Back to the debate about Paul’s exhortation to the Philippians; Paul writes that as long as the Philippians remain faithful to Christ, then Paul rejoices in the offering of their faith as a sacrifice to God. Similarly, there is no way to know in advance how Justice Barrett would rule on cases before the Supreme Court. As long as she continues to say “Yes” to Christ with her Catholic mind and Catholic heart, we can be assured that she will exercise the twofold obedience in reviewing cases: first, she will obey the natural law, and second, she will abide by the law made by the human legislator.