Practical Theology: “On Earth as it is in Heaven”.

Reflection on Session Four.

In the previous sessions, we acknowledged that practical theology is, among other aspects, about the reading of “the signs of times”. The practical theologian is one who stays awake, alert to new movements, new ideas, situations, concerns or progress that may characterize this time or the here and now as kairos. And the context of “the signs of times” is society and culture. What are the issues of society and culture that interest the practical theologian? Text seems to point specifically to two rediscovered concerns of our postmodern time, namely the need for contextual theologies and social justice.
These two issues are very intertwined, especially in recent documents of the Magisterium. When pope Paul IV talked about “evangelization of cultures”, he did mean that evangelization is a wholistic endeavor directed toward the roots of our being on in the world. “Evangelization of cultures” means a transformative encounter between the Gospel and the worldview –cosmology, anthropology, philosophy, theology, and etc- of a people. This is the same approach that john Paul II expressed when speaking of “new evangelization”. It is the same approach of the catholic bishops of Asia who speak of “triple dialogue” as agenda of evangelization in Asia, namely dialogue with cultures, religions, and the poor. Even in Africa, evangelization cannot ignore slavery and colonization and their outcomes –dictatorship, poverty, new imperialism, and etc- that have shaped the present African cultures. Jesus came to give the fullness of life (Jn 10:10). This life is always culturally expressed. How does practical theology engage in this project?
Concerning culture, the text recognizes that every human person has, belongs to and is shaped by his/her particular culture. The diversity of cultures testifies to the uniqueness and sacredness of every human person. No culture is superior to another. Culture is an inseparable part of the human identity and living. Culture gives meaning to life and proposes a shared worldview. Culture is a sine qua non condition for human growth and development. Thus, the respect for human dignity requires the respect, protection and promotion of every human culture. Also, practical theology has no choice but operates within a culture. Every theology has to be contextual -meaning rooted in particular social, cultural and historical contexts-, but not reduced merely to its context. How does God speak to me Aborigine of New Zealand, black Christian African, African-American, European-American, etc. contextual practical theological reflection will help such people discover and follow God’s vision in their concrete lives.
I would add that along contextualization, inculturation is another obligation of evangelization of cultures. Inculturation is about a mutually transformative encounter between God’s vision and local culture. The salvation and liberation that Jesus brought us has to be expressed in categories and language understandable by the recipient. Evangelization has to be a liberating inculturation of the Gospel, or the proclamation of an uncultured liberation of Jesus.
Some questions however remain: how can we do practical theology in a multicultural context, like the church in the USA? What may be the connection and how can we connect local or contextual theologies with the universal beliefs of the church? Issues such as syncretism, need to be addressed in order to ensure a genuinely Christian practical theological reflection. Also, apart from ethnic, gender issues, social class and location are other components of a human society that practical theology should include in its reflection.
Concerning social justice, the text seems to argue that, justice left to itself is dangerous and without soul. Justice should be accompanied by mercy, forgiveness and reconciliation. Justice means giving to the other what we owe him/her according to the rights of his/her human dignity. In economy, it is the obligation to withdraw from the market what is needed by others. Social institutions are put in place to guarantee the common good, the communion of the whole human family and the promotion of every human person. The human person should not be sacrificed for the benefit of the community, nor should the individual impose his/her desires over the whole community. The goods of the earth are meant to be shared by all human beings, and not only by a handful of elites or powerful. But justice left to itself is pure legalism. Since injustice is a sin, mercy or forgiveness should accompany the rendering of justice. And the works of mercy are not meant to replace justice, but rather to accompany it until a full recovery of one’s human rights.
I acknowledge that love has to permeate justice as well as mercy. Justice without love is legalism, just like mercy without love is self-abasement. Love is the measure of all human relationships. It is obvious that when human life is at stake –like death penalty, mercy needs to intervene and restore human dignity. Revenge is not part of Christian understanding of justice. Mercy should accompany the application of human laws. However, how can we picture mercy when dealing with social justice –poverty, unemployment, education, health care, homelessness, etc? We may rather talk here about the “preferential option for the poor” than about mercy. This justice is rather the result of reconciliation and truth and compassion. When social justice is rendered, peace flows, and shalom reigns.
Also, in our postmodern era, education as access to social power has emerged as a major human right. The ministry of education, especially the education of the poor about their human, political and social rights, is very important. As liberation theology calls it, conscientization is an empowering process through which the poor recover the sense of their human dignity. Moreover, we need to teach solidarity and gratitude to this generation of consumerism, insatiability and individualism; and challenge globalization.
All in all, practical theology has to be contextual in order to be relevant. This means, including cultural issues in its reflection, method and expressions. Consequently, issues of justice and mercy, truth and reconciliation should not be foreign to its reading of “the signs of times” and its “evangelization of cultures”.