30 October 2021
Saturday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time
Tomorrow is known among the protestant communities as “Reformation Sunday” usually celebrated on the last Sunday of the month commemorating when Martin Luther issued his famous 95 Thesis on October 31, 1517. Serious Reformation scholars have long ago abandoned the idea that the sole engine pushing the reformation were the problems caused by indulgences. Certainly, they were a spark, but now historians have turned their attention to the dry hay in the barn, that is, what the spark ignited. Perhaps it is best to leave the debatable points to historians and keep one thing in mind, that more is to be served by listening to people. Perhaps Ignatius’s wisdom of not trying to figure out what is wrong with something at first hearing instead of getting to understand what the person is saying may have had some consequence. Whatever happened in the past does not necessitate its recurrence in the future. When discussing issues of faith, especially those who come from different religious backgrounds, impress them with your ability to listen and to repeat back to them what they value and the structures they create to attain these values. This doesn’t necessarily mean you agree with them. It just means you have heard them. And sometimes that can go a long way.