THE scripture for last Thursday was the gospel from Luke 12, on Christ coming to bring division on earth – placing father against son and son against father and so on. It is often found to be a confusing message and, more so, because it is one of several gospel texts that point to division with the coming of Jesus.
The first, most obvious and accurate, interpretation (exegesis) of these texts is that they point to a situation where several members, but not all, of a family are converted to Christ. The consequence being that families were divided by religion.
However, it seems that the lens of today reveals a different interpretation, namely the division, even within families, when some accept Jesus Christ, his values and the church way of life and faith that follows.
Another, less obvious, division is that between the Catholic Church and contemporary society.
This is shown most clearly in the matter of personal morality, marriage and the Catholic identity of church institutions, including schools, hospitals, aged care, adoption agencies and overseas outreach.
It is often the case that these ministries of the Church are faced with the difficult choice of remaining faithful to church teaching and practice while living and functioning in a totally pluralistic society where a variety of lifestyles and values demand equal rights, including those regarding employment and access.
This leads to a ‘conflict of rights’ that is increasingly pressuring Catholic ministries to compromise their values.
For example, in the UK today, the law insists that all registered adoption agencies, including Catholic ones, provide a service that does not discriminate based on same-sex couples and heterosexual couples.
But a Catholic agency, acting in what it deems the best interests of the child, will prefer to adopt to heterosexual couples.
The point, now a matter of law, is whether this constitutes discrimination against gay and lesbian couples. The church suggests that it does not.
There will still be other adoption agencies that will adopt to same-sex couples. This is also the opinion of Jesuit Father Frank Brennan.
“It is legislative overreach for the state to insist on uniform non-discrimination for all adoption agencies. If all schools or even the majority of schools were faith-based, there would be a stronger case for anti-discrimination provisions applying more broadly in employment situations for teachers. With the present mix, I thought the Victorian Parliament got the law right in 2011.”
So it seems that division has never entirely left Christianity. On these issues and many more the Church will find itself increasingly at odds with a fast secularising society that seeks to expand its own boundaries and limit those of what are sometimes considered an out-dated