A Global Mindset

You know how we say sometimes that we belong to the first generation of people to live with a “global mindset,” with an open mindedness toward the possibility of a life shared with peoples of other nations. We hear it often actually. But we are not the first.

It strikes me that this is what Christianity has been about for 2,000 years. Christ himself desired this: "Go unto all the nations." And indeed, by his grace, we have done just that. Even before there was the Internet, there was the Church.

There have been, of course, those who have desired to conquer all other nations. The Persians. The Romans. The Greeks. The Egyptians. Attila and his Barbarians. Genghis Kahn and his Mongolian Empire. And the ever popular Charlemagne, Napoleon, and Hitler himself.

But we speak these days in common parlance of our creating a global community - of living as a people who share a common way of speaking and of doing business. We live in the age of the United Nations and the English language, of McDonald's and Michael Jackson, of the World Cup and the Olympics. These are global interests. Pop stars sell out concerts in places far beyond their native countries.

It is exciting - even as it does present new challenges - to see the worlds of politics and education, commerce and industry, entertainment and communication, all trying to live in one universal space together. But still, it strikes me as noteworthy that the Catholic Church has been doing this already for 2,000 years.

It hasn't been easy. But nevertheless, we have shown the world that it is possible. The word catholic actually means "universal." And what is a universe, but a space that can hold different worlds in some common relationship and formation, even if in tension.

The Catholic Church has long been a multinational, multicultural society, that seeks not to dominate other nations or cultures, but to unite them. And it does so in a way that only God can - by preserving the integrity and authenticity of the world's diverse cultural expressions of our common humanity.

Look at the Saints - how gloriously unique they are. Imagine Padre Pio at dinner with the Little Flower, or the Sudanese Josephine Bakhita walking alongside Thomas Aquinas. Their diversity witnesses to what the Church has been able to accomplish throughout the world with grace and the Sacraments.

Now consider how the world's attempts to fabricate this kind of communion based on money and pop-culture-politics often leads only to the homogenizing of cultures and the flattening of personalities. Even China's protests look similar to ours.

In any case, this desire to live in peace with other nations - to share life together based on a universal culture - should be for us Catholics yet another sign of the world's desire for Christ. And although it often falls on deaf ears today, it is worth our saying that the Catholic Church has nevertheless been living this way already.

As for those who do not admit that the entire world is destined to become the Church, we should pray that they will at least permit our institution to contribute a word to the dialogue. But will the world save a place at the table for the Church? It would do well to do just that. Its salvation depends on it. +