Francis’ Letter, Exult and Rejoice, continues to give us food for thought. His second chapter warns us of two very twisted views that can deform our response to the call to holiness. They are both old familiar heresies. The first is called Gnosticism. In simple terms, it means your smarts will make you holy. A subtle form of superficial conceit, Gnosticism considers its own vision of reality to be perfect. It feeds on itself, and tends to be disembodied. This sad state of mind can be reflected in racism. “I know we are superior to those black people. We’re better educated and disciplined.” There is little awareness that our elitism rests on the backs of those we have kept in poor neighborhoods and schools. Disembodiment keeps “those people” at a distance, we are out of touch with “those others.”
The second view that can deform authentic holiness is called Pelagianism. As Gnosticism distorts intelligence, so Pelagianism attacks the human will. It suggests that we can fix ourselves solely by the effort of our human will. Holiness is a “do-it-yourself” job that grace can hitch onto if God wants. In reality it is the other way around. God heals the will so that it can respond as it can. Once again, Pelagianism is a subtle form of arrogance. Being alerted to this danger is especially meaningful for Dominicans in the current struggle for justice.
The Dominican doesn’t begin with action, with prayer added “when I have time.” Dominican life calls us to contemplative stillness first, to see the situation clearly in God, then to act from that contemplative clarity. This is a safeguard directly against Pelagianism. Interestingly, our Dominican life also protects us from getting mired in a Gnostic intellectual quicksand. We are contemplatives that act. We gaze at the Holy Mystery. Then we tuck the head in the heart. Only then can we speak and act rightly. This is how we deal with racism or any other “ism” that tries to twist the truth.
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