6 November 2020
Friday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time
As I reflected a few days ago, amid the controversy of Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s appointment, her army of supporters were focusing too much on whether she will apply her faith when exercising her duty. What they need to ask is whether she has a Catholic mind in examining not only hot button cases but also all cases that come before the Supreme Court.
If we look around these days, many people who claim that they have Catholic faith do not have a Catholic mind. On the contrary, some people who are not Catholic, have a Catholic mind. To have a Catholic mind is to understand that pride is the ultimate sin, the sin of our desire to create our own world. With the Catholic mind, one understands human nature; that we have free wills. The wrong use of our wills leads to punishment for our sins. The Catholic mind understands the immortality of the soul and the subsequent punishment in the afterlife of injustice or reward for our good deeds.
Above all, Catholic minds understand the purpose of the Incarnation: to redeem us and invite us to repent. The Catholic mind maintains that in every area of our life, personal, political and religious, we are not immune from the results of the Fall. Therefore, we need redemption. Otherwise, the Incarnation Christ’s life, death, and resurrection would have been unnecessary. On the contrary, a secular mind maintains that it has no need to account for anything that is chosen or done in this life, and they will receive no punishment for their actions.
In the first reading today, St. Paul reminds the Philippians that their minds are occupied with earthly things. They forgot to direct their minds, as the citizens of heaven, to welcome Jesus Christ. Here, Paul wants to remind the Philippians that they should have a mind centered on the cross because all believers must be a friend with the cross. Paul is pleading for them to change their minds from earthly goals to the promise of Christ’ resurrection and the exaltation of the cross. The Crucified Christ is the Lord who is exalted in heaven, the place where all of us will return.
One of the questions addressed to then Judge Barrett during her confirmation hearing was how she would like to remember her legal career after she retired from the bench. Hopefully, in her old age, Justice Barrett will remember that she had exercise her duty with her Catholic mind and that she also holds “citizenship” in the City of God.