If you take time to study Catholicism and its spirituality, you have undoubtedly come across the notion of the Catholic ‘both/and.’ This is the notion that many situations in Catholicism do not have a clear black and white answer, but rather the answer is a tension between two seemingly contradicting options.
This conundrum appears often in the life of the Christian who is striving for sainthood. Should we show justice or mercy? Should we fast or celebrate? Should we bring our light into the world, or retreat into the loving arms of our heavenly Father? All of these questions about what action to take in certain situations have plagued Christians throughout the centuries, most notable may be the notorious Martin Luther.
So how do we answer these questions? In many instances, we are ‘both’ option A ‘and’ option B. We both fast in penitence and spiritual warfare, and we celebrate that our God has won the battle. We show both justice when discipline of action is needed and mercy when a person desires to move away from their old actions to something greater. We both hold tight to our traditions for unity and are pastoral when someone new needs to be welcomed. We do all these seemingly contradictory actions in specific situations because we recognize that each individual is different and needs to be treated as such. We are not programmed persons who should always act consistently to the same external stimulations. Rather, we are dignified persons who are meant to recognize other dignified persons, and treat them with love.
Why are we called to live like this? Because that’s who God is. The fullness of the human understanding of the ‘both/and’ can be found in God. He is three Persons in one God. He is the Alpha and Omega. He is the Lion and the Lamb. He is the Life Giving Water and the All Consuming Fire. God is the ultimate ‘both/and’, and we are made in His image and likeness.
So how do we know what action to take in specific situations? We look to Jesus. He gives us the example of how a human person can act in one accord with the Divine. But we must be careful not to over analyze His actions. Because Jesus never sinned, we may think that we need to copycat His actions to the nth degree. Yet, His actions were not what made Him sinless. It was His intention of love behind each action that made Him sinless. Like Luther, we can be so hype-focused on the exact right action in each situation that we drive ourselves to scrupulosity. However, an action, as long as it is not intrinsically evil, comes secondary to the intention behind it. And that is where Jesus can guide us. He is all the ultimate both ‘both/and’ because He is love in every situation. And love is not uniformity, it is unity. It is in the ‘both/and’ that love not only exists, but thrives.
So for the Catholic ‘both/and’ to be alive and well within our lives, we have to draw close to Jesus. He will teach us to listen to the Holy Spirit who tells us how we can best give love to our Heavenly Father. And when our soul is in this disposition, our actions will not be uniform with other Catholics, but rather our unique gifts and talents will be unified in the Body of Christ.
Living in the ‘both/and’ is a difficult life, but one that is full of adventure. It teaches us dependence on God because we are not ultimately in control of whether or not an action is ‘correct’ or not. Rather, we act in love, and let God transform our gift of love into something greater so that we can become both human and divine.
